


Tall Baby Bi

by NuwaWuxia



Category: C-Pop, Chinese Actor RPF, 乐华七子NEXT | NEX7, 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Angst, Attempt at Humor, Awkwardness, Chinese Drama, Clothing, Crushes, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, In a Class of Her Own, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:54:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 39,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26823238
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NuwaWuxia/pseuds/NuwaWuxia
Summary: Bi Wenjun meets a cute, but reserved costume designer while working on In a Class of Her Own. Will his charming smile be enough to bring her out of her shell?
Relationships: Bi Wenjun/Original Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5





	1. Chapter 1

Bi Wenjun walked with quick excitement down the hall, his long legs carrying him even faster and farther than usual. He had just finished his first session of rehearsals for his second drama, “In a Class of Her Own,” and his heart felt so full that he thought it might burst. It was only his second acting job, but he felt he'd found something he really enjoyed and was even good at. He thought it was liberating to play someone else for a while, and it felt a lot more free than life as an idol. He found the door he was looking for and pushed it open to a room full of busy people, yards of colorful fabric and the whirring of sewing machines. Someone turned to look at him, but said nothing. 

He bowed and smiled, “I’m Bi Wenjun. I’m here for a costume fitting.”

Seemingly out of nowhere a young woman popped up, a full foot shorter than him. She bowed back to him. “I’m Xiao Nuwa. I’m your costume fitter,” she said excitedly. “Come with me,” she beckoned with her hand. She wore a huge smile and bright eyes. Her long black hair was elaborately braided and cascaded down her back. He thought she looked just like a character from a xianxia drama.

Wenjun followed her obediently down the aisle between two rows of work benches, past several people sewing costumes, to the back of the room and around the corner to Nuwa’s design table. She opened a portfolio folder and pulled out several sketches. 

“Yu Le Xuan is a very elegant and graceful gentleman,” she told him, running her fingers along the lines of her sketches. “He always shows up at the right place at the right time, and never a hair out of place, so we want to bring that through in his clothes. I’ve planned some elegant, simple designs with soft colors. What do you think?” She leaned over her desk and peered up at him. She studied his face and thought that, though she knew he was only a year or two younger than her, the way his light brown hair hung in front of his face made him look boyish. She wondered if his looks would be able to carry off the appearance she was aiming for with his costumes.

He thought he was used to girls staring at him, but the look in her eyes was different. He caught himself wanting to stare back at her, but forced himself to look at the sketches for a moment while she gazed at him. He didn’t really have an opinion, but he wanted to seem interested. He made a comment or two about this design or that color before handing them back to her. “These look great,” he said with his most sincere smile that dug dimples into his smooth cheeks.

Nuwa’s heart stopped for a second and her breath caught in her lungs. She continued to stare at Wenjun while she took back the drawings. It felt like a long time. Slowly his smile disappeared and she shook herself awake. “Uh. Right. So…” she cleared her throat and shoved the papers back in the folder. “The only problem is none of the patterns we have will work because you aren’t shaped like a normal human, so I need to take your measurements,” she said quickly, without looking at his face. 

He snorted a laugh in spite of himself. He thought he'd heard it all before, but that was quite a variation. “Okay,” he grinned, and took a posture to indicate he was ready.  
She scoffed. “Change into this,” she told him, handing him a white shirt to replace his baggy one. “None of your clothes fit you properly, and that’s what we want to avoid. I can’t measure you correctly if you’re wearing that.” 

Wenjun's mouth opened into a wide "O" and he stared at her for a moment, his eyes slightly wide with modest surprise, wondering if he was supposed to strip and change in the middle of the room. She seemed to understand and took him by the wrist a few steps away behind a curtain. Then she turned her back even though she couldn’t see him anymore. 

It was better when she didn’t look directly at him, Nuwa thought, and her mind began to settle down. 

Behind the curtain Wenjun held up the small white tank top she had handed him. Nuwa was strange, but pretty, he thought. He found he liked her gentle ribbing and the sound of her voice, clear and expressive. And she was right about his clothes. It was hard to find things that fit right and that’s why he usually didn’t care. He removed his own shirt and let it fall to the ground before pulling the tank top over his head. It clung to his thin frame and he wondered if she would make fun of his scrawny arms. He pulled back the curtain to reveal himself, but she was gone. He picked up his shirt from the floor and folded it neatly on her table. 

Nuwa returned a moment later, carrying a step stool she frequently had to use. She placed it on the ground just behind him and stepped up. Her eyes barely met his shoulder as she removed the tape measure from around her neck. “I think I’m going to need a ladder,” she muttered under her breath. 

Wenjun just chuckled lightly, his shoulders shaking a little under the tips of her fingers as she measured them. Her hands were slightly warm to the touch, and he couldn’t help but find pleasure in the sensation of her hands gently caressing his body in a calm and professional way as she skimmed across his back, down his arms and legs, occasionally pausing to write down notes. He obediently raised his arms when she asked him to and hoped she didn’t notice the shiver of excitement he got when the back of her hand grazed his side, almost tickling.

Nuwa avoided being in front of him as long as possible, afraid he might smile at her again or their eyes might meet and she could momentarily lose her train of thought. She had met many attractive, charming, and famous men through her work, but none of them had ever made her freeze the way he did. Even thinking about that momentary smile caused her chest to tighten. She hoped the feeling would go away so she could continue to do her work, or else that she could avoid looking at him entirely. 

“All done,” she finally said and put down her notebook, pencil, and tape measure on the desk. Wenjun reached for his shirt and their hands touched gently. “Wait!” she said suddenly. “I need to take some pictures to work from,” she said nervously and pulled her phone out. 

Wenjun looked nervous again. “These won’t end up on the internet, will they?” he asked shyly.

“I’m a professional,” she said, a little offended. “It’s just for work.”

He nodded and struck a pose. 

“Just stand there,” she said quietly. 

He obeyed and smiled a little. 

She stopped once again, finding it hard to focus. “Turn around,” she ordered, and he again obliged. “Great,” she said, finally. “You’re free to go now. I’ll get started on these right away and I’ll find you later this week to start trying some things on,” she told him, deliberately turning away when he turned back around. 

“Okay,” he said cooly, “I’ll see you later this week. Thanks.” He tried to smile at her again as he gave a small bow, but she avoided him, so he turned and began to walk away. 

“Wait!” she called out after he had gone only a few steps. His heart rose in his chest and he turned back expectantly. “You forgot your shirt,” she said, holding it out to him. 

“Oh,” he said, somehow disappointed. “I guess I should change and give you your shirt back.” He plucked at the white fabric still clinging to his chest.

“You can just keep it,” she said quickly, waving her hands to tell him no.

“Oh, okay,” he stuttered, a bit surprised. “See you, then,” he said with one last grin that pulled at the left corner of his lip, but Nuwa still refused to look. He sighed a little to himself and finally walked away. Girls usually couldn't resist his smile, but it appeared she was immune to it. Not that it really mattered though, because no one usually wanted to look behind the smile. He was just “the visual,” nice to look at, but not someone anyone wanted to know. Just the bias wrecker, never the bias. At least that was how he felt about himself. All the way back to high school when he shot up over six foot people would want to talk to him at first, but eventually found he was either too shy or too dorky to actually get to know. The guys in NEXT were the first people he ever really felt totally comfortable around, but there were never any girls that seemed willing to give him the chance. That also didn’t matter much though, since he couldn’t date anyone publicly. It was a lonely life sometimes. 

He felt like he wanted to know Nuwa, though. She was funny and pretty, and clearly talented even if he was too ignorant to fully understand. He felt like she saw through him, even though she would barely look at him. And he felt different when she teased him, not really uncomfortable, just seen. He wanted to know more about her, but would he get the chance? Was she not attracted to him at all, or was she just cold? Or maybe she was just as shy as he was. 

Nuwa let out a sigh of her own as she watched his long frame round the corner out of sight. She took a full breath for the first time in minutes and hoped once again that these symptoms would subside. 

That night, Xiao Nuwa sat on the floor of her apartment drawing patterns for the costumes. Although she tried to keep her mind clear, she couldn’t help herself from remembering Wenjun’s face every now and then, and she wondered why it had such an effect on her. She flopped onto her back and opened her phone. His pictures were there along with a few other cast members she was responsible for dressing. She studied his face for a long time but could not decipher anything out of her own confused thoughts. No matter how much she made fun of him, she could not deny she thought he was good looking; she had eyes after all. Even his narrow hips and disproportionately long legs were attractive to her. The memory of her hand gliding just slightly, casually against his back sent a chill down her spine, but her fingers felt warm when she remembered the touch of his skin. 

Bi Wenjun laid on his bed in the hotel just a few blocks away from her, also remembering the gentle contact they had shared. He knew it didn’t mean anything. Surely for her that contact was a normal part of her job, nothing to be alarmed about. But in his memory there was something electric in the space between her fingertips and his skin, and the sensation lingered in him as he tried to fall asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 23rd birthday to Wang Ruichang!   
> My birthday present to him is his debut in this fic!
> 
> Hope you enjoy! And thank for the Kudos!

Bi Wenjun and Wang Ruichang were waiting in their dressing room for Xiao Nuwa to arrive. They had just finished morning rehearsals. Wenjun was showing off his yoyo skills while Ruichang recorded him to post on Douyin

Suddenly, she came rushing through the open doorway, head down. She had decided before coming in that it was best if she avoided making eye contact with him for as long as possible. Her hands were full. In one hand she carried several garment bags that she held high in the air above her head so they wouldn’t drag on the ground and in the other were several pairs of boots that were falling out of her arms. She dropped the boots on the floor, and then hung the bags labeled “Yu Lexuan” and “Lei Zexin” on the appropriate sides of the room. 

“These are your first costumes. Please try them on,” she said politely, and then walked back out of the room, closing the door gently behind her.   
Ruichang thought she was not her usual bubbly self. She usually got the most excited over new costumes.

Wenjun also thought she was acting strange, although he has no real reason to think so since he'd only met her once. He couldn’t help but notice how she refused to look at him, and he wondered if he had done something to offend her. He shrugged and put down his yoyo. He ran his fingers against the smooth fabric of the robes, admiring her work. Quickly he got undressed and began to change, but became confused by the layers and complexity of the ensemble. He looked over at Ruichang who gave him an equally puzzled look back. With just the bottom layer on he opened the door and poked his head into the hall. Nuwa was leaning with her back against the wall, eyes gazing toward the ceiling. 

“Xiao Nuwa,” he whispered. “We need help.” He smiled helplessly as she turned her face to look at him. She paused for a second, stalled once again by his expression. Then she nodded. 

She pushed off the wall and followed him into the room. 

She couldn’t help but chuckle when she saw the two of them in what basically amounted to undergarments. Ruichang hadn’t even tied his shirt closed yet. The fabric was loose, but it still highlighted his long and slender form, and it was just slightly translucent. Wenjun heard her laugh and turned around quickly, blushing when he realized what she was laughing at. 

She covered her mouth and turned around. She quickly found the next layer and took it to him, helping him put his arms through the sleeves and then attempted to throw it onto his shoulders since she couldn’t quite reach, but it slid back down to his elbows. Standing in front of him she firmly folded the flaps of the robe one over the other and tied them closed. Wenjun stared at her all the while, but she continued to avoid his gaze. She firmly wrapped the multiple layers of robes across his chest to secure them tightly and make sure they fit. Each time her hands glided across his chest his face felt hotter. Nuwa looked up at him for the first time just as his eyes darted away and he cleared his throat.

Wenjun knew he would have to get used to touches like that from her. He knew there was nothing in it at all. Maybe he was just touch starved. But his brothers in NEXT were touchy all the time and it never bothered him. And he was fairly used to being dressed by others in similar situations. Why was it different when he was with her?

When she was done she twirled her finger in the air, telling him to turn. When he looked in the mirror he thought he looked very handsome. “You’ve made me look like a gentleman,” he smirked.

But Nuwa wasn’t as happy and she stared at him for a long moment before responding. “Try on the boots,” she said tersely. 

He complied. 

“Hmm.” She was still dissatisfied. “I can’t believe it but I overestimated your height. I didn’t think that was possible.”

He stuck his tongue between his teeth and let out a breathy awkward laugh that somehow made her feel at ease. She went to her bag and retrieved a box of straight pins. She quickly went to work making adjustments. “Chang-gege, give me a couple of minutes,” she begged as she pinned. 

“Chang-gege?” Wenjun said, confusion raising the pitch of his voice. He looked down at Nuwa to see her smiling at the other man. 

“Okay, Xiao Xiao” Ruichang smiled back. Although he was jealous of the attention his castmate was getting, he appreciated his puzzled tone.

“How do you know each other?” Wenjun wondered aloud. 

“We grew up together. Chang-gege has been a close friend of my brother’s since we were little.” She winced as she pricked herself. That’s what she gets for being distracted.

“I was one of the first people she ever put her costumes on,” Ruichang added with a smirk. 

She shushed him. When she finished with the hem she gently took the robe off of Wenjun and placed it in the bag. “You can hang up the rest,” she told him as she went to help her friend who was struggling to get his clothes on.

"Chang-gege, you have grown so much since the last time I was able to force you to model. But I think these fit you well.” She smoothed the fabric over his broad shoulders and down his arms. Nuwa beamed up at him and he returned her smile warmly. 

Ruichang couldn't help but feel happy to see her again. Although she was a year older than him and her brother, Nuwa had always been kind to him. She was kind to everyone. Growing up, she was his first crush, and he was always willing to play along when she wanted him to try on her newest creation. Part of the reason he wanted to become an actor was because she instilled in him her obsession for TV dramas. He had initially joined the drama club in high school to spend more time with her before finding out how much he really liked acting. He felt glad that their paths had finally crossed again as professionals. Even though theh hadn’t seen each other in a few years he still had very warm feelings for her, possibly more than he originally realized. 

“We should go get dinner tonight,” Ruichang suggested to her in a low voice. 

She smiled. “I might have to work late tonight to get ready for tomorrow.”

“Text me when you’re finished. I’ll probably be up,” he assured her.

It was Wenjun’s turn to feel a twinge of jealousy as Nuwa lavished her pets and attention on the handsome Ruichang. He wondered what they were saying in hushed tones. He stood in his bottom layer awaiting her instructions. 

Satisfied with Ruichang’s outfit she turned her attention back to the tall boy. “You need to try on the other shirt,” she began to untie the one he was wearing without thinking. 

“Eh!” he yelled, karate chopping her hands and stepping away. 

“Oh! Uh...Sorry,” she mumbled, embarrassed and staring at the ground again. “Can you take off your shirt, please,” she said quietly. She was bright red as she started sorting out the school uniform for him to try on next. 

When she turned away from him he started to take off the shirt himself. He looked embarrassed, too, and he turned even brighter red when he saw Ruichang looking at him. Without turning around she handed him another shirt with an outstretched arm. He took it and hurried to put it on before telling her “okay.” She handed him another robe and helped him put it on. He felt goosebumps when he fingers grazed the skin on his neck as she fastened it closed. 

Nuwa could feel his eyes following her as she went for the final layer. She handed him the sheer, flowy blue robe and allowed him to put it on himself while she waited, belt in hand. When he closed the robe she wrapped the belt around his thin waist and fastened it in the back. She tugged on it firmly, with little room to get her hand between the belt and his body. “Is it too tight?” she asked, still standing behind him. 

“No. It’s fine,” he replied softly. 

“Are you sure? You have to wear this one the most, so tell me if it is uncomfortable and I will fix it,” she assured him. 

“It’s snug, but I like it,” he admitted. “But...um...do I look too skinny?” he whispered self consciously. He was well aware of this about himself, and always tried to hide it under baggy clothes. 

She brushed her hand across his shoulders, tugged at and smoothed various bits of the ensemble as she walked around him, eyeing him from the floor to his shoulders and back to his waist, but not at his face. Finally she stood in front of him several feet away with her hand to her chin. She made eye contact with him for the first time. “Surprising, actually, no,” she said with a very satisfied smile. She was proud of her work. 

He turned to look at himself in the mirror and couldn’t help but find himself handsome and elegant. He smiled at himself.

Her mind switched to work and she became determined to examine every piece for any flaw. She gently took his hand and raised up his arm to see the lines of the fabric move and stretch, to see how every inch of fabric fell around his frame. He felt warm again at her touch and wondered if she liked how he looked or just the clothes she had put him in. After a careful inspection she began to undo his belt. She caught herself undressing him this time and let go, backing away with her hands up like a burglar trying to look innocent at the scene of the crime. She honestly didn't mean to act inappropriately, but she couldn't seem to stop embarrassing herself. 

“Uh, I’m sure you can manage,” she said shakily and turned back to Ruichang, who was struggling with his own belt. She helped him get it on and then inspected him in much the same way. “You’d better try on these boots,” she remembered and helped him to slide his feet in.

At that moment the door swung open revealing Song Weilong. “Weilong-ge!” Nuwa cried happily from her kneeling position on the floor. Both Wenjun’s and Ruichang’s heads snapped back and forth between the third man and the girl they both adored before looking at each other in surprise. 

“Weilong-ge?” Ruichang asked, his voice full of confusion and touch of jealousy. 

“Do you know everyone?” Wenjun wondered, looking down at her. 

She shrugged. “Pretty much,” she grinned.

Wenjun was still slowly removing his clothes when she stood up and took one last review of Wang Ruichang. “Okay, looks like you’re ready to go,” she said, quite pleased with herself. Ruichang began to strip his clothes with a glance at Wenjun to show the taller man that he did not care whether she was there. "Weilong-ge, sorry I don’t get to make your costumes this time,” she said trying to distract herself from all the men in the room undressing. 

“I know. I’ll have to be jealous of these guys,” he said with a wink.

“Don’t worry. You’re in good hands,” she promised him. 

She turned back to Wenjun, who was just about to remove his pants. Both got panicked looks and she turned toward the door covering her eyes. Weilong and Ruichang both erupted in laughter at their embarrassment. She turned the darkest shade of red yet. Quickly she grabbed the bag with the items in need of alterations and rushed toward the door yelling “bye!”

“So you are old friends, too?” Bi Wenjun asked Weilong curiously, as he regained his composure to remove the last layer of his costume. 

Wang Ruichang removed his shirt aggressively. 

“We’ve worked together a few times,” Weilong replied.

Wenjun let out an awkward laugh. “Do you know if she’s seeing anyone?” he asked, trying to sound casual, but knowing it wasn’t coming off.

Ruichang dropped his pants. “Are you interested?” he asked with a grin, standing confidently in his boxer briefs. He put his hands on his hips and waited for a reply. 

Bi Wenjun tried not to stare at his castmates six pack. He turned away with another strained laugh and started putting on his own clothes. "How come she is so familiar with everyone?" He wondered to the other two young men who shared a brief look.

"Nuwa never stops working," Weilong explained. "Over the last few years I've done three projects with her. I don't think she ever takes a break."

"So you are interested?" Ruichang repeated his question from before with a smug expression.

"Good luck," Weilong laughed. "It's widely known that Xiao Nuwa is married to her work. She never dates, especially actors."

"But she seems so approachable," Wenjun wondered aloud.

“She’s a ray of sunshine,” Ruichang mused.

Weilong came to put a hand on his castmate's shoulder. "She cares for everyone, but she loves no one," he sighed. "Quit while you're ahead," he advised him knowingly.

"Did she turn you down?" Ruichang asked Weilong. 

He turned around to look at the other man. "No, but I was never foolish enough to try. Xiao Nuwa is like a fire. If you want to feel her warmth, you have to stay at the right distance. If you try to get to close you will get burned. That's why she calls everyone brother, as long as you treat her right," Weilong observed. "But, every project there's always some fool who falls for those eyes," he said look sideways at Bi Wenjun, "and ends up crashing and burning."

Wenjun’s eyes widened and he looked a little scared. Was what Weilong said true? Or was he just trying to tease him? Maybe I can win her over. "Who said I was interested anyway?" He said in a breathy panic and tossed his head as if to dismiss the idea, causing Weilong to laugh. 

Ruichang looked at Wenjun carefully, wondering which one of them would play the fool this time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wenjun joins Nuwa and Ruichang for dinner, but who's really the third wheel?

Xiao Nuwa ended up not having much work that night after all and was leaving the costume workshop right around dinner time, so she decided to take her old friend up on his offer of dinner and texted Ruichang. His contact image in her phone was still a picture they had taken together in drama club back in high school. 

Xiao Xiao: _noodles???_  
She felt like that was all she needed to say

Wang gege: _there's a good place right next to my hotel_

Xiao Xiao: _I know the spot. See you there in 10._

She hurried off in that direction. She was familiar with it, since it was at the very end of the part of town where tourists were allowed, making it a good place to go later in the evening when people were mostly gone and it was quiet. She didn't expect to run into Bi Wenjun, although it shouldn't have been very surprising since all the main cast were staying in the same hotel. What was surprising was that she literally ran into him. She almost fell back but he caught her by the arms. Then he noticed it was her and released her in shock.

"Oh, sorry! I should look where I'm going," she said to his chest before looking up and realizing it was him. "Oh, it's you.”

 _What did she mean by that?_ He wondered and gave her a crooked smile, making her freeze. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she exhaled nervously. "Uh, I'm sorry about today. I get really focused on the clothes and forget there are people inside of them. I apologize for making you uncomfortable." She scratched the back of her head nervously.

"Oh, it's okay. I'll get used to it," he assured her with his awkward laugh. "Are you going to eat?" he asked, thinking he might ask her to join him.

"Yeah I'm meeting Wang Ruichang," she explained.

He thought briefly about changing his plans and going somewhere else, but he really wanted noodles. "Oh, I'm going here, too," he told her.

"You should join us!" She said before she could stop herself. She wanted to slap her mouth as soon as the words were out. Not only was she nervous being next to him, but she had also been looking forward to catching up with her friend. Now she couldn't take the invitation back and she was in for an awkward dinner. 

"Oh, I don't want to impose," he said politely. 

"Come on," she said, pulling him by the sleeve. _Let's get this over with_ , she grumbled internally. 

Ruichang looked surprised, raising one eyebrow at the duo as they approached the table he had gotten to share only with Nuwa.

"I bumped into Bi Wenjun outside and he looked hungry, so I asked him to join us," she explained. Ruichang said nothing.

"Sorry," Wenjun apologized awkwardly, "I'll just go eat somewhere else." He turned to walk away but she grabbed his sleeve again. 

"We're already all here, come on. Let's eat," she ordered him to sit down, suddenly feeling like she didn't want him to leave, after all. 

Ruichang still didn't say anything, just stared at the man sitting across from him, in the seat he meant for Nuwa. But Nuwa sat between them, which was closer to Ruichang, so he tried to see the bright side. He forced a smile at her.

"How was work?" He finally spoke.

She spared a look for Wenjun, who was trying to study the menu. "It was good. I finished another costume for you," she rubbed her neck.

"You work too much," Chang replied with concern. 

"It's work. There's no such thing as too much." She sighed. "How's Youchen?"

"Hmm. When was the last time you talked to your brother, anyway?"

"I don't know. I called him when he graduated." She shrugged. How long had that been? A year?

"I know he got a job in Beijing, but I haven't talked to him in a while either. I think he's doing alright." The two friends hadn't been close after high school since they were on   
such different paths. 

Youchen and Nuwa were polar opposites

Although Nuwa always marched to the beat of her own drum she had always been a hard worker and was driven to achieve her own goals. Youchen on the other hand lacked the imagination for ambition, so he was willing to acquiesce to his parents' dreams of working a stable and respectable office job with predictable opportunities for advancement. Nuwa felt her parents couldn't understand how successful she was in her own way. She had always been the black sheep, but it didn't bother her too much.

"Well, he’s their perfect boy,” she gave a fake smile, pressing her palms together and trying to look angelic. “So, I'm sure my parents are happy."

"When was the last time you talked to them?" Ruichang wondered with a knowing smile.

She just grunted. 

Finally the waiter came to take their order, cutting their conversation short, much to her relief. Wenjun had been listening carefully, trying to understand the conversation. 

"Where are you from?" Wenjun asked both of them when the waiter left. 

"Handan, Hebei," Ruichang answered for both of them, annoyed Wenjun had inserted himself into the conversation.

"Where did you go to school?" Wenjun directed his question only at Nuwa this time. 

"At the China Academy of Art over in Hangzhou. They often get students work on projects over here, so after I graduated I mostly worked here," she explained.

"You don't like to go home?" Wenjun looked at her intently with his deep brown eyes.

She shrugged. "What's in Handan but the past? If I go back home I miss out on work and getting to meet new people like tall baby over here," she looked at Ruichang while pointing her thumb at Wenjun. Both of them laughed. "What did they feed you anyway?"

Wenjun smiled in spite of her name calling. "When I was in middle school my mom was worried I was too short so she made me drink a lot of milk. When I was in high school she asked me to please stop growing or no one would want me."

Ruichang laughed uncontrollably. Nuwa just smiled wide and patted his head. It made him feel small in a good way. The unexpected affection made him smile his widest and most genuine smile, and he was disappointed the food came and interrupted her gentle touching.

The conversation pretty much stopped there as they all hungrily slurped up their noodles. When they were done Nuwa let out a satisfied sigh and rubbed her belly. "It's been real, boys, but I'm beat, and we have an early morning tomorrow," she looked at Wenjun. "I'm going home." She pulled her wallet out of her purse, but Ruichang stopped her. 

"I got it," he said, paying for all three and they walked out together. "I'll see you in a couple days," he said to Nuwa before turning toward the hotel, disappointed dinner had been so short. _At least we’ll be working together for a long time._

"Goodnight," she replied with a small wave.

Neither she nor Wenjun made any immediate move away. He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Can I walk you home?" He asked after a moment.

She looked around. It was dark now and the streets were almost empty. She was used to walking the streets of Xiangshan alone at night, but she wouldn't mind the company. "Okay," she said and started off in the direction of her apartment.

"You live here all the time?" He looked around at the buildings, a permanent movie set hiding a living town. 

"Most of the time. Sometimes I'll work with a designer who does an outside project and they'll ask me to go with them to Hengdian or wherever else. But here there's always steady work. I just want to keep working hard so I can be a head designer someday. Designing for you and Ruichang is the biggest job I've been given so far," she told him proudly. 

"I'm sure you'll achieve your goals. Your work is really amazing." He smiled down at her and she thought his eyes sparkled. "What drew you to designing costumes anyway?"

“I like to make reality out of fantasy. I first fell in love with wuxia and xianxia dramas when I was kid. I realized that there were lots of cool things that couldn’t be real. There aren’t martial artists who can really fly through the air. You can’t cultivate immortality. And there are no heroes. One of the only things I could pull out of that world into my own was the clothes. I learned to make all kinds of costumes. I mostly made them for myself, but sometimes I made Chang-ge and didi wear them when I wanted to practice men’s clothes. When I started working in the theater group I realized that putting the right costume on made the character more real for the actor. When you look like a gentleman, you can embody him. A tough guy, a scholar, a cross dresser. They all need the right clothes to be real," Nuwa explained, though she was starting to feel self conscious with the way Bi Wenjun was staring at her, seemingly hooked on her every word. 

“That makes sense,” he agreed, smiling widely at her to show he understood.

Soon they were at her apartment and she was saying goodnight.

"Goodnight, Xiao Nuwa," he said her name carefully.

"You can call me Xiao Xiao. Everyone does," she said with her natural happy smile.

"Goodnight, Xiao Xiao," he grinned, feeling privileged in spite of her words. She gave him a small wave and ran inside.

Wenjun walked off into the night singing "goodnight to you."

When Bi Wenjun got back to his hotel room he pulled out his phone to FaceTime Zhengting. To his surprise all his NEXT brothers seemed to be there.

"Jun-gege!" Zeren cried, leaning over Zhengting's shoulder. All the guys were pushing and crowding each other to get on camera or to see Wenjun.

"What's up guys?" He said with a wave. "Everyone is still there?" 

"Yeah. We are just hanging out. We miss you," Zhengting said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, I miss you guys, too."

"But that's not why you called," Zhengting said knowingly. Wenjun breathed an awkward laugh. 

Justin leaned in closer to the phone while the guys in the back argued over something. "Yo, guys, I think Yoyo Master met a girl!" He said loudly. Everyone stopped to look at him on the tiny screen. Wenjun’s eyes widened. _Am I that transparent?_

"What's her name?"

"What does she look like?"

"Is she hot?"

"Does she have any friends?"

"Did you show her your yoyo?"

Everyone laughed. They were all talking too loud and too fast to make it out, but he was pretty sure that last one was Justin. 

"Enough!" Zhengting yelled at his younger brothers. "You're embarrassing him." He got up and walked to his own room and closed the door, but not before he heard someone say, "aw, sorry Wenjun."

Finally they were alone. Wenjun had called Zhengting because he was exactly the kind of friend you could talk to about your feelings without making you feel embarrassed for them. 

"So is it true?" Zhengting asked.

Wenjun hesitated for a moment, wondering if it was even worth talking about if he was just going to crash and burn anyway. "Yeah," he finally said.

"What's her name?"

"Xiao Nuwa," he smiled as he said it.

"Oh, you definitely like her." Zhengting could tell. 

"Yeah, but I don't think she likes me back." His smile faded.

"How could she not like you back?" Zhengting brushed off the idea. "What's she like?"

"She's funny and beautiful. And she makes fun of me all the time but she has a great laugh and I don't mind. And when she touches me I feel warm and fuzzy all over," he admitted but started to feel like he'd said too much.

"She touches you?" Zhengting's eyebrows raised suggestively.

"Not like that! She works in the costume department and sometimes she touches me when she's dressing me. And I like it." He blushed.

"Oh boy, you've got it baaaaad."

"I know. But some of the other guys know her and they say she never dates. And she's never given me any reason to think she likes me, so I'm probably just embarrassing myself." He sighed.

"I don't know. She makes fun of you and she touches you a lot. It sounds like she likes you to me." Zhengting didn't understand why girls never liked Wenjun when he was so tall and handsome. "Just be your sweet, sensitive self and give her that smile. You'll win her over," Zhengting promised.

Wenjun felt encouraged by his friend's words, but also blushed a little again at the description. "What if she thinks I'm a dork?"

"You are a dork!" Zhengting cried. "But in a good way. Just be yourself and let nature take its course."

"Thanks gege. I appreciate it." Wenjun felt better already.

"But Wenjun…"

"Yeah?"

"Even if you do get her, it's not gonna be easy," Zhengting told him, not needing to explain.

"Yeah, I know." Wenjun sighed. Sometimes he wished he could just be a guy who liked a girl. But would she like him if he wasn't famous? Did she even like him now?


	4. Chapter 4

Xiao Nuwa was laying on her bed staring blankly at the ceiling. Her apartment was quite small, but that was okay because she didn’t usually spend a lot of time there, and when she did she was usually still working on something or just watching shows, so she didn’t feel like she needed much in her surroundings. For furniture there was a small table in the middle of the studio apartment where she ate and watched shows on her laptop, her bed, a dresser and a table in the corner with the sewing machine she had had since childhood. These were the things that made up the sum total of her personal life. Movie posters plastered the walls, but there were no pictures of her family or friends, or things to remind her home. She wasn’t sad or sentimental about it. She did what she wanted and was free. No one could take that away from her. 

As she stared at the ceiling Bi Wenjun’s face continued to appear to her, smiling on the left side and creating the most alluring dimple. Why did this image continue to come to her? She didn’t want it to. She felt around for her phone on the bed beside her and opened it to the Douyin app. She had never been a fan of NEXT, although she was aware that Bi Wenjun was a member. She didn’t go in much for boybands. She searched him up on the app and found his official account. She watched several of the videos and noticed most of them were of him breaking that classic grin that transformed his face from cute to handsome or even sexy with little effort. The phone slipped from her hand onto her forehead. 

“Ow!” she yelped and rubbed the spot where it hit. “You idiot,” she muttered to herself as she looked at his face again, charming but boyish. As she watched his smile on repeat she realized, _it’s all an act. Here I am thinking about his smile, and it isn’t for me. He’s just trying to charm me, like I’m some stupid teenage girl. What an ego! I’m not falling for it._

“We don’t let boys fuck up our grind,” she reminded herself out loud. Only once before had she let a man almost let her lose sight of her goals, and she swore then never again. _Never again._

Still, she knew she wasn’t going to be able to completely ignore him. Over the next few months they were doing to spend a lot of time together. She prided herself on her professionalism, and part of that was making the set a pleasant working environment, so she would just have to figure out a way to immunize herself to his charm. With a groan she clapped and the lights switched off. She fell quickly asleep. 

Bi Wenjun was playing yoyo again in his dressing room. He had already been to hair and makeup and was just waiting for Nuwa to arrive with his clothes, but they still had plenty of time. The other guys would not come until later in the day, so he was all alone, but he hadn’t stopped thinking about what they had told him the day before. _Was it really a lost cause?_

He was lost in thought and didn’t hear her come in. At the same time he swung the yoyo out wide until it hit something with a loud thud; it was Nuwa, in the same part of her forehead where she had hit herself the night before. 

“BI WEN JUN!” she yelled, enunciating each individual syllable of his name. He even liked the way she yelled at him. She was on the ground clutching her forehead, her supply bag and the garment bag holding his clothes dropped carelessly to the floor. 

“Oh no! I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there!” He crouched down to look at her face. He reached out to touch her forehead but she swatted his hand away.   
“Watch what you’re doing you…” she restrained herself from unleashing a string of expletives, “Giant!” she spewed. 

He tried not to laugh. “That’s the best you can come up with? Are you okay?” he asked, his voice full of concern. “You’re not bleeding.”

“I’m fine,” she grumbled, even though her head hurt like hell and there was already a large red bump. Wenjun cringed at the sight of it as he helped her to her feet. She accepted the help but as soon as she could stand she pushed him away. “Hurry up and get dressed, Yoyo Master,” she ordered sarcastically, not bothering to help him at all. 

“Where are you going?” he asked as she stepped over the bags and walked toward the door. 

“To get ice!” she said in a tone that let him know she was annoyed and closed the door behind her. 

“This does not bode well,” he said to himself before gathering the things off the floor. 

When he was dressed he opened the door so she could come in, but she was still walking slowly down the long hallway holding an ice pack to her head. He scurried back inside to look at himself in the mirror before she arrived. When she walked in he was still looking at himself. He turned to reveal himself to her. Maybe it was just the knock to the head but to her it was like slow motion in a movie when a character sees their future crush for the first time. She hadn’t had a chance to look at him at all before. She never admitted this to anyone, but one reason she loved historical, wuxia and xianxia dramas was the wigs. There was something about long hair she just found unendurably attractive. And with all that hair out of his face he looked like a man rather than a boy. She could feel her mouth hanging open. 

“Do I look good?” he asked with a wink. 

Somehow that snapped her out of her stupor. She remembered her conversation with herself from the night before and made a sound of derision, crossing her arms. “Yeah, we did a pretty good job making you look like a grown man,” she said, referring to herself with the hair and makeup team. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, confused. 

She shook her head. “Nothing. Just that you look older with all that hair out of your face.” She walked over to where he was standing and placed the icepack on the vanity table. She started to adjust some of the layers and folds of his clothes. 

“You don’t think I look good like that?” he asked, trying to lead her to admit it. 

“Most of the time it’s like, ‘Wow, look at that tall baby! How did that baby get so tall?’” she mocked. 

“Some people like that look,” he said with his classic smile. 

“Yeah, some girls do. Women like men,” she emphasized.

He stared at her, trying to think of something to say. “You know, those other guys aren’t that much shorter than me,” he finally told her.

“Yeah, but for some reason you just _look_ gigantic.” She went to look for something in her bag and he remained silent. He didn’t know how to take what he perceived as her criticism. When she turned around he was still standing there looking blankly at the ground. She was concerned she had lowered his confidence and that would affect his performance later on. She mentally slapped her mouth again. “Oh, come on. I was only teasing. I’m sorry.” He looked down at her with his full brown eyes, still searching for some encouragement. “Don’t take anything I said to heart. You’re cute, okay. You look great. I just like to joke around, but I’ll stop,” she promised. 

“No!” he finally responded and she gave him a puzzled look. “Don’t stop. I like it. I’m just being sensitive,” he admitted. _Did she just call me cute?_

She shook her head with a small laugh. “Here.” She pointed the fan she pulled out of her bag at him. “You need this. Let’s go.” She picked up her supply bag full of needles and thread and other things she might need in case of a fashion emergency while filming and led him out to go to the set. He started singing “heart full of you” as he followed her down the hall and she pretended she wasn’t listening. 

They were on the set of Mu Lai's bookstore. After the first few takes Nuwa could see that Wenjun was nervous as he flapped the long sleeves of his robe while the director talked to Ju Jingyi. She worried that it was her fault because of her criticisms that morning, so she went over to give him a pep talk. 

"Hey, Xiao Bi," she said from behind him and he turned around, surprised by the nickname. "Come here," she said, crooking her finger and wanting him to lean down so she could fix his collar. "You're doing great. Just relax a little. You look amazing." 

He hardly heard a word of it because her hand had touched his neck and he had never been this close to her face before. He could lean over just a few inches and kiss her cheek. He stopped himself. "Thanks," he swallowed hard and stood up straight.

"Do you need this?" She asked, holding out a small electric hand fan. 

"No, I have this," he said with his awkward breathy laugh, holding up the fan she had already given him. He smiled thankfully at her and she smiled back briefly before remembering again that he smiled for everyone, not for her. She quickly walked back to the place she had been standing behind the camera before. 

Wenjun could see now what Weilong had meant when he said she took care of everyone. It was her job to make sure everyone looked good on set, so fixing his collar was nothing, but she was able to read the emotions and conditions of others and tell them or give them what they needed. He tried not to let it go to his head, but... _how many times did she say I looked good this morning? Must have been at least three…_

He landed all his lines perfectly after that and they moved quickly through the next few scenes. Soon enough they were done and ready to move on.


	5. Chapter 5

Xiao Nuwa found ways to block out Bi Wenjun. She tried not to look him directly in the face when she could help it. Anything above his shoulders was really not her domain, she told herself. And she definitely wasn’t listening when he sang in between takes, especially when he did it purposefully off key--she was _not_ laughing. And he’d gotten a hell of a lot better at dressing himself. She only ever gave him the cursory glance to make sure things were in order. Luckily there were many days when he wasn’t on set at all, and she could relax a little, and when he was there, there were often many other people for her to focus on. Because she was definitely _not_ focused on Bi Wenjun. Nope. Not at all. 

“How’s it going with Xiao Xiao? Still smitten?” Song Weilong teased Wenjun as the latter watched the girl straighten one of the other actor’s robes. 

Wenjun clicked his tongue. “She barely looks at me,” he said, shaking his head. 

“Maybe you should do something to get her attention,” Weilong suggested. 

“Like what?” Wenjun wondered. 

“Well, what’s the number one thing she cares about?”

“Her work,” Wenjun said without hesitation. 

“Right. So make you and her work a little more noticeable,” Weilong suggested, gesturing between the two of them across the room. 

Wenjun looked confused. “But, I’m already wearing her costume. What else can I do?”

Weilong looked him up and down before landing on the coffee cup held carefully in Wenjun’s hand. Weilong took a step back and then extended his hand out to tip the cup up, spilling coffee all over the front of the pristine white robe. Wenjun stared at his counterpart, his mouth and his eyes opened wide. 

“Song Weilong!” he cried, before lowering his voice. “I wanted her to notice me, not murder me,” he said through gritted teeth. 

“She’s not going to _murder_ you.” Weilong looked in her direction. Wenjun’s cry had attracted the attention of others. Well, just about everyone, including Xiao Nuwa and the director, who both rushed over to see the damage. 

“Bi Wenjun, what happened?” Zhi Lei cried, looking at Wenjun’s brown-stained chest. 

“Uh...uh...I…” Wenjun couldn’t find any words to explain himself. 

“Xiao Xiao, can you fix it?” Zhi Lei asked, turning to the girl with a distraught expression. “We need this for several more days or else we’ll have to re-shoot today’s scenes.”

Nuwa stared at Wenjun’s costume, jaw clenched, trying desperately to maintain her professionalism. She swallowed hard before answering the director. “I’ll try to get the stain out. If not I’ll remake it,” she said, quiet masking her inner rage. 

“It’s gotta be ready tomorrow,” Zhi Lei told her before turning away to see how the rest of the shooting day could be salvaged without Wenjun. 

Xiao Nuwa nodded, still not looking at Wenjun’s face as she grabbed his wrist and dragged him off set. He threw a backwards look at Weilong, who barely contained his laughter as the tall boy was pulled away. They made it to where several vans were waiting to transport actors back. 

“Take it off!” Nuwa order, just below a yell. 

“What?” Wenjun asked, looking around him at the various crew members. 

“Take it off now!” she repeated, this time through gritted teeth. 

Wenjun wanted to protest, but he was clearly going to lose this battle, so he began to struggle with the belt. 

“Ugh!” she cried impatiently and helped him with it roughly. Once it was off she waited with her arm out for him to remove the robe, looking emphatically away from him.

_Well, this is pretty much the opposite of what I wanted. I'm going to make Weilong pay for this_ , he thought. 

As soon as he’d removed it and put the robe in her hands she walked around him to one of the vans and climbed into the front seat. 

“Take me back to the workshop,” she ordered the driver, slamming the door.

Wenjun watched her ride off. This was definitely not what he had wanted. 

Back at the workshop, Nuwa tried every trick she knew to remove the stain, using every stain remover they had in their arsenal, but nothing could completely remove the brown spot. 

“You’ll have to remake it,” her boss said as the two examined the robe once again, a few hours and washes later. 

Nuwa nodded resolutely and walked off to find the special fabrics she had hand-picked from another city just for his costume. She took just as much care to make it the second time as she had the first. It took her all night and into the early morning, but she got it done. She got an hour or two of sleep at her work bench before her alarm went off to tell her it was time to work again. 

“Try this on,” she said weakly to Wenjun when she found him in his dressing room, too tired to be furious anymore. 

“Xiao Xiao, I’m really sorry. I should have said it yesterday, but I-”

Nuwa held a hand up to stop him. “Just get dressed.”

“Xiao Xiao,” Ruichang said, drawing her attention away. “There’s a tear in my robe.” He twisted to show her. 

It was in a part that probably couldn’t have mattered less. Part of her just wanted to let it go, but even tired as she was she couldn’t. She sighed and pulled her sewing kit out of her bag. She sank down to the ground before threading her needle and then beginning to mend the tear at the bottom of his robe.

“Ow,” she yelped as she stabbed herself with the needle, her eyes blurred from weary, involuntary tears. She wiped her eyes quickly with her sleeves, sniffing and continued. 

“You okay, Xiao Xiao?” Ruichang asked, trying to turn to see her. 

“I’m fine. Stay still!” she ordered. 

“You sure?”

“I’m just tired,” she told him as she finished her quick job. Not her best work, but it would do. 

“Xiao Xiao, I’m sorry. Let me get you a coffee,” Wenjun offered. 

She stood and glared at him with narrow eyes. “You’re not even allowed to think about coffee,” she spat at him. Ruichang tried to hold back his laughter. “And you!” she said, hitting his arm. “Be more careful with my clothes and stop tearing them. Just behave!”

She turned to Wenjun again, this time to check how his costume fit. She fastened the newly-made belt tightly around him. “Let’s go!”

Nuwa was dead on her feet. She was nodding off during scenes, only for her head to snap up each time the director yelled “cut”. Once she awoke to everyone’s laughter when Wenjun had failed to clear the threshold and his head wear had caught. 

“Xiao Xiao?” the director said to her through her haze, looking for her to help him. She blinked several times before moving. 

“Thanks, Xiao Xiao,” Wenjun said quietly as he bent down to help him adjust it. She just rolled her eyes, straightened his collar and moved away again. She turned to look at the other actors in the room. She centered Weilong’s belt. 

“You okay, Xiao Xiao?” Weilong asked as she wobbled a little. 

“Fine,” she mumbled and went back behind the camera. 

When they were done shooting inside they moved outside, and Nuwa allowed herself to sit for the first time as the crew adjusted and set up. She had maybe ten or fifteen minutes to rest and she did so leaning against a timber pole until Wenjun came to sit beside her. 

“Xiao Xiao?” 

He was sitting too close to her. She would have gotten up to run away, but she _really_ didn’t want to move. Why did he have to bother her again? She groaned.

“Look, I’m really sorry about yesterday. I know you stayed up all night, and I really want to make it up to you. Let me buy you dinner,” he offered politely. 

She sighed heavily. “You don’t need to make it up to me. I was just doing my job.” She closed her eyes and tried to block him out. 

“I know. But I shouldn’t have made your job harder. It was an accident, but I know how hard you worked on that costume, and how hard you worked on this one. I didn’t mean to disrespect that.” He knew he hadn’t, that it was Weilong’s fault, really, but he still felt bad. “Please,” he implored. 

Xiao Nuwa thought for a moment, involuntarily touched by the effusive respect he was showing for her work. She opened her eyes and looked at him. “Two dinners.”

“Two?” he wondered, an amused smile playing at his lips. 

“I didn’t eat last night either. So one dinner to make up for my missed meal and another to make up for being a pain in my ass,” she explained brusquely. 

“Okay.” He smiled widely. “Two dinners then.” 

_That worked out better than expected_ , Wenjun thought to himself. _Maybe Weilong was right_.

“Not tonight though,” she said, stretching out her arms. “Tonight I am going to sleep.” She sighed and pulled herself to her feet, yawning. “Get up, let me look at you,” she ordered him and he obeyed. There was dust on his backside from sitting on the steps with her. She brushed it off and he looked at her, wide-eyed and blushing. She caught his surprise and stuck a finger in his face. “If you don’t want me to touch you like that, then stop sitting on things!” She walked off in a huff to hide her own embarrassment. 

He did want her to touch him though. And he couldn’t help smiling to himself once she was gone. 

They were getting close to starting the next scene and she gave the other actors a once over, stopping to straighten Weilong’s hair ribbon. 

“Everything okay with you and Jun-ge?” Weilong asked with a sly smile. 

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Pfft.” She walked away from him and his smile that had turned smug.


	6. Chapter 6

Nearly a week had passed after the coffee incident. Xiao Nuwa had managed to dodge a few follow up attempts from Bi Wenjun to buy her dinner. She couldn’t and wouldn’t be held responsible for what she had agreed to while deliriously tired. It was like getting consent from a drunk person; it didn’t count. At least that was her argument. Then he’d left the shoot for a couple of days to go fulfil some other obligations and she could breathe easy for a bit. 

Now it was Sunday, and they weren’t shooting. Xiao Nuwa spent the morning in the workshop and was packing up to leave when her phone buzzed. 

Wang-gege: Are you busy this afternoon?  
Xiao Xiao: I’m just about to leave work after fixing your costume. AGAIN. What’s up?  
Wang-gege: You should come over to the archery range if you’re free. Jingyi needs your help.  
Xiao Xiao: If you need my help you can just ask gege. Don’t blame it on Jingyi.  
Wange-gege: Fine. I need your help. Please come.  
Xiao Xiao: I’ll be there soon. 

She stopped at her apartment on the way to change and grab her gear. Of course she had a specially made outfit that made her feel like a wuxia hero from an elite Jianghu sect. She had custom leather bracers and gloves for protective gear. Xiao Nuwa lived for this moment. She pulled her hood up so it covered most of her face and walked down the streets of Xiangshan, through the throngs of tourists, feeling completely badass, secretly loving the strange looks people gave her when she acted out her fantasies in small ways. 

She arrived at the archery range, this area reserved only for actor training and practice, although she had connections with the staff and came here often when she had the time. Ruichang grinned wide when he saw her get up, reminded of old times and thinking of how kids used to tease her and she just _did not give a shit_. She simply couldn’t be bothered. 

“Wow! Xiao Xiao! You look amazing,” Jingyi said when the other woman removed her hood. 

“I heard you needed my help,” Nuwa said with a wink. 

“Xiao Xiao, you know a lot about archery?” Wenjun asked, arriving from somewhere to the side of the group. 

Somehow she hadn’t noticed him and she tried not to let his presence wreck the totally awesome feeling she had. Nuwa pulled an arrow out of his quiver and loaded it with a smooth motion, pulled back and let it fly. She hit the bullseye dead center. 

“Xiao Xiao is a Hebei Provincial champion,” Ruichang announced proudly, as if it were his own accomplishment. He put a heavy hand on her shoulder. “I asked her to come help us.”

“You guys don’t actually have to be good at archery,” Nuwa told them. “They can make it look like you hit the bullseye. But I can help make you look good.”

“Thanks, Xiao Xiao. They gave us lessons yesterday, but I feel weird,” Jingyi told her. 

"No worries," Nuwa grinned and pulled her off to the side to help her privately. She gave Jingyi several pointers about how to stand and draw the bow.

"The boys are watching us," Jingyi whispered with a grin, bow drawn but no arrow. 

Nuwa looked over her shoulder to see that they were. "Just ignore them," Nuwa told her. She waved a hand at them to tell them to go away. "You look good. Try it with an arrow now." She gave Jingyi an arrow and reminded her how to load and draw it.

"Wenjun is still looking at you," Jingyi told her, turning slightly away from the target. 

Nuwa put her hand on the bow and turned it to the ground. "I'm gonna need you to focus while you have a weapon in your hand," she tried to say with a laugh so it didn't come out harsh. 

"Oh. Sorry," Jingyi smiled and got back to the task at hand. Once again she drew the bow back and let her arrow fly. It was not bad. She hit the target at least. "Wenjun likes you though," Jingyi said, now that she had finished her task.

"No, he doesn’t," Nuwa responded dryly.

"Yes, he does. It's so obvious!"

"Bi Wenjun, destroyer of costumes, does not like me," Nuwa continued to deny what was unthinkable. 

"Okay. You can't hold that against him. It wasn't even his fault. It was Weilong who ruined his costume," Jingyi blurted out. 

Nuwa froze and narrowed her eyes at the tiny woman in front of her. "What did Weilong do?"

"It's not important. What is important is that Wenjun is crazy about you, and you should go for it."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, Weilong’s got a big mouth."

Nuwa narrowed her eyes again, and then without saying a word loaded her bow and shot another bullseye.

"Come on! Wenjun is so cute and sweet! Give him a shot." Jingyi nudged her.

"If he's so cute, why don't you go out with him?" Nuwa deflected, not very cleverly.

"Because he doesn't like me. And besides, I have someone that I like," she smiled with a sideways glance at the group of boys.

If Nuwa were the type of girl who liked gossip she would have pressed for more details, but she was not.

"Well, I don't like him. So...end of story. Try again." Nuwa handed Jingyi another arrow in hopes of dropping the topic.

"Weilong says you never date. Why not?" Jingyi wondered, opting for a shift in the conversation, because she clearly did like gossip. She pulled back the arrow.

"Keep your elbow in," Nuwa told her and tapped her arm. She didn't answer. Jingyi looked at her teacher after she let the arrow loose. She was actually pretty close to the center that time, but it wasn't what she was interested in. Nuwa continued to say nothing, just grabbed another arrow, loading it to the string with great focus. She took a deep breath and raised the bow, pulling her hand back to her cheek. "Men are untrustworthy," she said quietly before she released. Jingyi couldn't help but wonder whose face Nuwa saw on the target.

"Who hurt you?" Jingyi wondered aloud.

Nuwa shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"So...you're just going to be alone forever?" Jingyi wondered. 

Nuwa let out a rye laugh. "Yeah. Probably." She smiled ruefully at something and then sighed. "You look like you're doing fine. I told Ruichang I'd help him, too. I'll be back later." Nuwa walked away before Jingyi could say anything, which was good because she had a lot to say about that man, too.

Nuwa walked up to Weilong first. He was practicing with his left hand and struggling a bit. She placed one hand on top of his bow hand and the other on his elbow and pushed gently. 

"You're gonna have to train hard," she told him coldly. 

"I know," he said, and relaxed the bow without releasing it. 

She jabbed him in the stomach. "What did you have to do with the coffee?" she demanded. 

His eyes widened. "I-I-it was an accident," he swore. 

"Fine." She sighed, not sure why she doubted him, but she did. "I don't know what is going on with you and Jingyi, but stop gossiping about me!"

"Did Jingyi say something about me?" Weilong wondered with a wide grin and looked over at the other woman. 

Nuwa scrunched her face angrily and pressed his forehead with her two fingers. "You two are perfect for each other," she scoffed and walked away.

Finally she got to Ruichang, who was actually doing just fine. She had already taught him plenty when he was younger and it came back to him fairly easy. 

"What are you guys talking about?" he asked nosily when Nuwa walked up to him. 

"Ugh. You don't want to know. And I don't want to talk about it. Suffice it to say that if I ever find you gossiping about me, I will beat you to a pulp," she said with a raised fist, but a mockingly menacing expression for her friend. 

"Xiao Xiao, I would never, " he promised, hand over his heart. He won a smile for his loyalty and she watched him take a shot and complimented his form. 

She hung out with him for several more minutes, the two of them competing cheerfully until an arrow bounced off the wall between Ruichang and Wenjun’s targets. Both of them turned to look at the tall boy, who smiled awkwardly at them. In his defense, it wasn't that he was bad at archery, although he wasn't good. He had been distracted by the sound of Nuwa's laughter and that had made his aim go haywire. 

"Maybe you should go help him," Ruichang suggested, though a bit reluctantly. Nuwa scrunched up her face, this time in an expression of pain and displeasure, fake sobbing silently. "Just do it for everyone's safety," Ruichang urged with a hand on her shoulder. He fully appreciated her hesitance. 

Nuwa took a deep breath and sighed before she turned around and walked over to Wenjun. 

"Having some trouble?" She asked casually. 

"Um, a little. Not really," he replied, embarrassed. He picked up another arrow and loaded it to the bow string. She wrapped her fingers around the arrow and pulled it away gently.  
"Let's practice your draw first," she told him firmly, placing the arrow back in its quiver. "Have you done archery before?" She wondered.

He shook his head. "Not really. One day in high school, and yesterday," he admitted bashfully.

"That's okay," she smiled, taking pity on him. She walked to the other side of him. "You should stand perpendicular to the target with your feet shoulder width apart." He did as she said and adjusted when she nudged his foot with hers, unable to avoid looking at her face as he bent his head down to look at his feet. "Hold the bow here with your left hand." He held the bow up. She placed her hand on top of his. "You don’t need to have a death grip on it. You're really going to push it in one direction while you pull in the other, so relax your hand a little," she instructed.

But who could relax when she was touching his hand? Wenjun glanced at her nervously, but she didn't seem to notice any of it.

She let go of his hand only to grab his other hand. "Use these fingers like this to pull the string from here. Take a deep breath, and then pull your elbow all the way back." He did and she put a light pressure on his elbow to bring it down. "And release." The bow resounded with a loud thwack. "Looked good," she said absently. "Now you can try it with an arrow." 

She handed him one and he loaded it carefully. She repeated each step and reminded him of his posture and when he let the arrow fly it at least hit the target, which was important. 

"Well done," she encouraged. "Try it again." She helped him for several more minutes and he showed considerable improvement. 

"Thanks, Xiao Xiao," he smiled when he could tell she was getting ready to leave him to his own devices. 

"No problem. I wouldn't want you to hurt anyone," she teased with a wink. She was about to walk back to Ruichang. 

"Are you free tonight? I still owe you dinner," Wenjun reminded her.

"Oh. No. Well, Jingyi told me that the whole thing was really Weilong’s fault, so you don't really owe me anything." She looked awkwardly at the ground, hoping it would do her a solid and swallow her up.

"That's not true," he said quickly. "It was my coffee, my costume. I should still take the responsibility," he insisted.

"Oh. Um. Well. That's okay. Really." She wanted to let him down easy, truly, but she didn't know how.

"We can go anywhere you want," he promised with his charming, dimpled smile.

Her breath caught for a moment in that familiar way. "I can't tonight." She said when she snapped out of it. "I just remembered that I need to go back to the workshop and work on something. So I'll be busy. All night." She picked up her bow and practically ran out of the shooting range.

Nuwa hurried home and threw herself on her bed. She couldn't figure out why she always had such a good defense against him in her head, but when she came face to face with him she was a total wreck. _Stupid smile_ , she thought


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ju Jingyi pushes Nuwa a little harder toward Bi Wenjun. And then a little social lubrication gets the gears turning.

On set, Ju Jingyi and Nuwa had started a little game between takes of throwing their best cultivator moves at each other to 'stun' the other, and Nuwa was winning, although Jingyi had some good moves. At some point Wenjun and Weilong had caught onto it and began mimicking them and laughing to get the girls' attention. Nuwa blushed and shrank behind a wall where they couldn't see her. 

"I finally know what your problem is," Jingyi announced to Nuwa after the next take when she was adjusting the star's robes. 

"I don't have a problem," Nuwa replied, afraid of where this was going. 

"Yes, you do," Jingyi assured her. "You're just too shy. You're too shy to see that Wenjun likes you, and you like him back."

"Would you keep your voice down?" Nuwa hissed.

Jingyi snapped her fingers. "You didn't deny it!"

"I'm not shy. And that's not my problem," Nuwa said tersley.

"You don't see that you're totally cool and confident with literally everyone else, but Wenjun gets under your skin by existing? You don't think that means something?" Jingyi asked.

"Yeah, it means, I _don't_ like him. Did you hit your head?" Nuwa reached her hand out to touch the other girl's head, but Jingyi swatted her away. 

"Or, counterpoint, it's just you trying desperately hard to deny that you like him."

"Is not."

"Is so. And I'm not giving up until you realize it." Jingyi crossed her arms and grinned, pleased with herself.

"Or, hear me out, you could just mind your own business," Nuwa suggested.

"Oh, sorry, back to work!" Jingyi said, going back to her mark.

Nuwa trudged back to her spot as well and pouted to herself. _Jingyi was wrong. I clearly hate Wenjun, and everyone can see that._ She hated his smile and his laugh and the way he always called people out on their bullshit. Well, everyone but her. 

At the end of the shooting day Nuwa was walking off the set by herself. Normally she would have gone back to check the costumes to see if there were any repairs needed and make sure everything was ready for the next day, but tomorrow was not a shooting day. Before she could leave though she was met by Jingyi, Weilong and Ruichang.  
Jingyi grabbed her hand to stop her from walking away. “Xiao xiao,” she said in a sweet voice. “We are all gonna go for hotpot after we change. Come with us!”

“I shouldn’t,” Nuwa hesitated. 

“Come on!” Weiling encouraged her. “We were extra careful not to mess up any costumes today, so there’s not extra work for you. Come with us.” Nuwa shook her head. 

“There’s more to life than work, Nuwa,” Ruichang said in his soft tone. “It’s important to make time for friends, too. Come have a meal with us. You'll feel better.”

Nuwa sighed. “Is Bi Wenjun going to be there?” she asked. 

“No.”

“No.” 

“Yes.” They all answered at the same time. The other two glared at Ruichang. 

“I’m not going,” Nuwa declared. 

“Come on!” they all said together. 

“This is a set up. I know it. I’m not going.” She crossed her arms. 

“It’s not a set up,” Ruichang promised. “You can sit next to me,” he assured her with a wink. 

She squinted her eyes at him. She could see they weren’t going to give up. “Fine!” she agreed. 

“Yay!” cried Jingyi. “Meet us at the restaurant next to our hotel in one hour!” She skipped away to go get changed. 

Nuwa didn’t feel like going back to her apartment before dinner so she just wandered the touristy parts of Xiangshan until the time was right. At this time of the evening the tourists had mostly left, only a few were left getting dinner or lingering at the shops, almost making it safe for the actors working in town to go out to dinner, although there always remained the possibility of someone taking their picture or following them. She thought this was definitely the worst part of being in show business, and one of the best reasons to work behind the scenes. She wandered around the shops lazily until the time was right to go to the restaurant. She arrived there after the other three, but there was no Bi Wenjun. They had already ordered liquor and she watched the three of them clink their cups together. 

“You started without me,” Nuwa said when she reached them. They were seated at a booth with Weilong and Jingyi on one side, so she sat next to Ruichang.

“You’re just in time,” Ruichang said, pouring her a cup and then clinking it with his own. He immediately poured another. 

“Chang gege,” she whined. “Slow down. I can’t hold my liquor.” She took in anyway. She felt nervous and hoped it would help. “Where is Bi Wenjun?”

“I’m here,” he said, sitting beside her. Their legs touched and she jumped. She was trapped now, with no means of escape. 

_I knew this was a set up_ , she grumbled internally, cursing the name of Ju Jingyi. 

“Chang-gege, scoot over,” she said quietly. He moved all the way over to the wall but it didn’t provide much room. She scooted over next to him anyway, thinking she’d rather be close to her long time friend than the man she was desperately trying not to like. Ruichang draped his arm over her and smiled smugly at Wenjun, who was looking at Nuwa with raised eyebrows. He tried to hide his disappointment. She was still next to him, but he didn’t have the luxury of contact with her anymore, and she had been touching him less and less lately.

A waiter came over to take their order and bring them water. When he left Jingyi made sure everyone’s cup was full before raising her cup. “This meal is in honor of our hardworking Xiao Nuwa. She makes us look good and we don’t deserve her. Thanks for putting up with all our trouble,” Jingyi said sincerely. “Xiao Xiao!”

Everyone joined in, “Xiao Xiao!”

Nuwa couldn’t help blushing as she took her drink and her cheeks felt even warmer when she noticed Wenjun beaming at her. She coughed. “Thank you. It’s my job to take care of you, but I’m happy to have you as friends, too,” she said. 

Ruichang filled everyone’s cup again. “Tonight, we will enjoy ourselves and drink till we drop.”

“Eh!” Nuwa protested. “Some of us actually have to work tomorrow.” He waved her off. Her head already felt heavy and she let the cup sit there while she waited for food. 

“Nuwa, why do you work so hard?” Wenjun asked. He didn’t touch his cup either, so he was at least two drinks behind everyone else at the table. He rested his chin on his hand and waited for an answer. 

Briefly she studied his face. His hair was flopped in his face according to his usual offscreen style. His features were soft and her mind briefly wandered to wonder what his skin felt like. She cleared her throat. “It’s important to work hard,” she said, thinking she sounded rather boring. 

The others were more or less ignoring the two of them, having their own conversation and drinking more. Wenjun hadn't stopped staring at her and she felt the familiar desire to fall into the earth. Nuwa nervously threw back the cup she had been saving and looked away from him. "Lets go get sauce," she said suddenly and started prodding Wenjun's side to get him to move. It tickled him and he was laughing as he almost fell to the floor. 

Everyone followed her over to the sauce bar and she hurried to beat everyone back to the table so she could shrink into the corner. To her relief Ruichang came back next and slid into the booth beside her, now she was sure not to have to sit by Wenjun and she’d be spared his dimples. Or not. To her chagrin Wenjun returned next and immediately slid into the booth facing opposite her and scrunched himself against the wall. 

“Xiao xiao you should try my sauce,” he said, showing her his bowl as he stirred with his chopsticks. Nuwa buried her face in her hands and sank back into her seat. “It’s got ginger, and sesame oil, and…” he continued until Jingyi and Weilong arrived back at the table, chatting happily until they saw Wenjun had invaded their space. Jinyi was about to say something about it until she noticed that he sat there to be across from Nuwa. She smiled at Nuwa, scooted in next to him, and Weilong followed after. Thankfully for Nuwa the waiter returned with their order and there was a slight release of tension. 

They quickly got to cooking and eating the ingredients they had ordered. Jingyi and Weilong held the conversation as they chattered along without any urging anyway. 

After a little while, when they'd all eaten and drunk more, Jingyi slammed her cup down on the table and proposed a game to get to know each other better. "We will go around the table and each person gets to ask a question that every person has to answer, or if they choose not to answer they have to take a drink." Bi Wenjun didn't feel like he had anything to hide, so he agreed. Nuwa was reluctant, but she figured at worst she would just get drunk and not answer any questions. 

"Wenjun, ask the first question," Jingyi said when everyone had agreed, and she filled up each of their cups.

He searched his mind for a question that wouldn't be too onerous, especially for Nuwa, since he could tell she was uncomfortable. "Okay, best looking actor or actress you have worked with?"

At the same time all three men said "Jingyi." To which she rolled her eyes and looked at Nuwa for her answer.

"Zhang Bin Bin," she said with a smile. Jingyi laughed and nodded her approval of the answer. 

"What's so great about Bin Bin?" Ruichang grumbled and took his drink anyway before filling the cup again. 

The girls looked at each other. "Pillow lips," they said in unison.

"Plus, he's got these great, broad shoulders," Nuwa added, a wistful smile growing across her face before she hiccuped. Wenjun hadn't actually expected her to say him, but he still felt a little disappointed. 

Everyone turned to look at Jingyi. She looked at each one of her male leads. They looked at each other. "Aaron Yan," she finally said. 

They all made upset noises, berating her for not picking one of them. 

"Okay, me next!" Jingyi said, physically shaking them off. "Tell what you think is the best feature of the person to your left." They all looked at the person beside them. "Weilong has great…" she paused for suspense, "eyebrows," she giggled. 

Weilong looked around at everyone wiggling his eyebrows as if to ask if it were true. He looked at Ruichang for a moment. "Ruichang has...broad shoulders," he said, turning to Nuwa, who blushed.

Ruichang laughed. "Easy, Xiao Xiao has the prettiest eyes." He didn't even look at her. 

Nuwa rolled her eyes and looked at Bi Wenjun in front of her, who was technically to her left. What was she supposed to say? His smile? His eyes? His height? Those dimples? She thought they were all good answers. After a moment she felt like she had already stared at him too long, so instead she just tossed back her drink. Only Jingyi laughed as she filled the other woman's cup again. 

Wenjun didn't know how to interpret that response. He looked briefly over at Jingyi who was plastered to his left side and said in a low, detached voice, "your smile." He shifted uncomfortably and waited for Weilong to ask his question. 

"Okay, okay. I wonder if any of you has the guts to tell us who your crush is."

Weilong and Jingyi looked at each other, while both Ruichang and Wenjun glanced at Nuwa. Nuwa looked down at her cup and tossed it back. Everyone else did the same, followed by awkward laughter. 

Everyone except Wenjun. 

Wenjun was thinking about how much they had all had to drink already, especially Nuwa who had the farthest to go home. He was worried she wouldn't make it there on her own. He studied his cup. At this point he wasn't drunk yet, but he thought this drink would put him over the edge. So, as much as he didn't want to say it out loud he simply said, "Xiao Xiao," without looking at her. 

"Well, I'm gonna call it a night," she said in a rush, pushing Ruichang. 

"What? No!" Ruichang protested. "It's still early!" He made himself difficult to move. He hadn't even heard Wenjun’s answer as he was thinking about the girl himself. 

"Chang-gege, let me go," she slurred. 

"Let her go," Wenjun said gently.

Ruichang grumbled, but got up slowly and Nuwa jumped out of her seat. "Thanks for dinner," she said quietly, her face completely red, and then walked a crooked path out of the restaurant, bumping into a few tables along the way.

Wenjun motioned for his cast mates to let him out, too. They did but followed up with "where are you going?!" as he walked out to follow her.

Wenjun couldn't see her when he got out of the restaurant, but he remembered where her apartment was and set off in that direction. Luckily with his long legs it didn't take long for him to catch up to her, and he did so right before she tripped and caught her by the waist before she could fall on the hard cobble stones. When he caught her his hand touched her stomach where her t-shirt rose up and it was her turn to feel the electric current through her body that always happened then their skin touched. It was dulled by the alcohol, but she could still feel it. She turned to look up at him, and, realizing who her savior was, hurried to escape his grasp.

"I'm fine," she said and stumbled a few steps away from him.

"Xiao xiao, let me walk you home," he said, again using the gentlest of tones. 

"I don't need help!" She half yelled, pushing away his outstretched hand.

"You don't have to admit it, but you do have to accept it." He grabbed the back of her zip up hoodie to hold her steady. "Either let me walk you home or I will pick you up and carry you there."

"I'll make a scene," she said.

He bent down to get close to her face. "Go ahead," he dared her, knowing that she wouldn't. 

She huffed and pulled her jacket away, but started to walk again and allowed him to follow. "Why would I need your help anyway? You're drunk, too."

"No, I'm not."

"But you're so tall and skinny, like a skeleton. How can you handle so much liquor?" 

He chuckled. "I didn't drink as much as you."

"Why not?" She wondered as they turned another corner. 

"So I would be able to walk you home," he admitted. 

She rolled her eyes. "Why did you say that?" She was starting to veer off, crossing in front of him and losing her balance. 

"What? That I have a crush on you?" He put his hands on her shoulders this time to steady her. 

"Yes."

"Because it's true," he shrugged. 

"You didn’t have to say it."

"Why not? I like you. I'm tired of holding it in. Everyone already knows. Even if you reject me, I'm still glad to finally let it out." He wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't regret it later. 

She had a lot more questions, but she decided to focus on walking instead of asking them. Just as they turned the corner to her street she stumbled once more, but he wasn't quick enough to catch her. She caught herself with her hands, causing scrapes on her palms and her knees that started to bleed immediately. She winced as they stung. 

"Let me see." He crouched down to gingerly examine her hands and blew on them gently. "Come on. We are almost there. Let's get inside and get you cleaned up."

"I can do it," she mumbled as she struggled to get feet and leaned into Wenjun for support, which he happily gave since it allowed him to have his arm around her. 

Just then it started to rain heavily and she shot a glance at the door of her building, then up at Wenjun. 

"Let's make a run for it," she said through the rain. 

Wenjun felt that would be a bad idea in her condition. Without a word he picked her up and walked quickly into her building. "Where to?" He asked, dripping in the lobby. 

"You can put me down now," her voice was soft.

"Oh." He let her go reluctantly, but was happy when she put her hand on his arm for support. She winced because of her wound and he adjusted so he was supporting her arm instead.

She led him to her second floor studio apartment and unlocked the door before she paused. "I never have people over," she said looking up at him with an expression he couldn't understand. She had never had people over. "Just give me one second." She pushed into the apartment and let the door swing closed, but not all the way. She had been working from home at night a lot recently, so really the mess was more scraps of cloth than anything else. When she felt it would be acceptable she opened the door to him waiting patiently. "Please come in."

He glanced all around the small room and then back at her. "Do you have a first aid kit?" He asked, looking down at her hands. "Uh, we should get out of these wet clothes, first." She went over to her small dresser to get out some shorts and a t-shirt. She rummaged around for a large t-shirt she could lend him before she stopped short. She flitted across the room to the closet and pulled out a set of robes. She presented them to him with a huge grin. "I've been working on these for you. They should fit." He couldn't help but laugh and took them willingly. "I’ll be right back." She disappeared to the bathroom to the change. 

She gently pulled off the wet skinny jeans that were stuck to her legs. The knees had been ripped when she fell and they were blood stained now. She put on the shorts and changed her t-shirt before gently washing her hands and knees in the sink. A few minutes later she returned to the tall man in her room. He was fully dressed in the robes she had made for him, and she couldn't escape the warm feeling that came over her when she noticed how handsome he looked. 

"Tell me about these." He was pointing at the posters on her wall that he had been examining. 

She went to her closet to pull out the clothes drying rack and gently laid his clothes over it. She gaped at how long his pants were, even though she was familiar with his measurements.

"Those are all the projects I've worked on," she told him. She sat on the bed with the first aid kit and began to try to bandage her hand.

He noticed her struggling. "Let me help," he knelt in front of her and took the bandage out of her hand. He rummaged around in the first aid kit until he found some ointment and, gently taking her hand in his, applied it to the gash with light touches of his fingertips before wrapping the bandage securely.

She gaped at the attention he was giving her, totally unprepared for it. Her head started to hurt and she groaned a little. He paused work on her other hand, thinking he had caused her pain. She shook her head. "I never drink this much."

"I never took you for a drinker," he said, glancing up at her eyes. "But you'd rather get dangerously drunk than give me a compliment." His tone wasn't offended or upset, but he was curious. 

"I didn’t know what to say," she admitted. The alcohol in her system lowered her inhibition, and it was easier now without so many people around. "Should it be your smile, or your eyes? Your height? Even your nose is cute." She reached out a finger to poke his nose gently, then let her mouth fall open, shocked at her own behavior. 

"So you do think I'm cute," he smiled up at her.

"Don't smile at me!" She put her bandaged hand on his face and turned her own away. "Your cuteness is an objective fact, it has nothing to do with me."

He laughed and shook her hand away from him. He still felt happy to get her to admit it. "I think you're cute, too." He finished bandaging her other hand just before she ripped it away, rolling her eyes.

He began to apply ointment to her knees with the same tenderness. She jumped from shock rather than pain. "I can do it myself!" 

He brushed her hands away. "I got it." He considered this retribution for all the times she was able to touch him at will and had him at a disadvantage. She felt electric when his hands lightly touched her skin and her mind went fuzzy. All she could do was stare at him. He carefully pressed large bandaids to her wounds and gave her a light tap when he was done. She shook herself awake. She suddenly felt she had a lot of questions, but her addled mind couldn't make any order or coherent phrases out of them so she kept her mouth shut. Wenjun stood up and she was suddenly distracted by the costume she had given him. Realizing what had caught her attention he held out his arms and shook out the fabric a little.

"How do I look?"

She pondered it for a moment and motioned with her finger for him to turn in a circle. She stepped up to stand on the bed. "Something is definitely missing," she said.

He took a few steps forward so he was right in front of her. "What?"

"It's not the same without the wig," she smiled as she ran her fingers through his floppy hair. 

His eyes went wide and tiny explosions went off in his brain. Both of them lingered there for a long moment, both thinking how they were close enough to kiss, but neither made a move. 

Nuwa let out a breathy laugh and sank down to her bed. He knelt in front of her again. He realized that since he'd put all his cards on the table, right now might be his last chance with her, so he had to take his shot.

"Do you like me at all, Xiao Xiao?" he asked quietly, looking into her eyes.

"We're friends aren't we?"

He didn't like that answer but he forced a half smile. "Yeah, but that's not what I meant."

"I haven't had a chance to think about it," she lied, looking down at her bandaged hands. 

"Okay," he smiled warmly at her. "You can take some time to think about it then." 

She nodded and looked out the window. It was still pouring. "I'm tired," she said pulling her blanket over the bare legs he had been touching not long ago. "You go sit over there."

He smiled, his dimples cutting deeper into his perfect cheeks, and did as he was told. He walked over to the small table in the middle of the room and sat crossed legged. He draped the flowing sleeve of the robe over the table and rested his temple against his fist, watching her with a satisfied grin.

"Stop smiling at me!" she cried as she hid under her covers. 

"Why? I know you like it," he teased.

"Of course I like it. Who wouldn't like it?" Her voice was muffled under the comforter. "But that's the problem. You know you're being cute and you're trying to lure me in with your cuteness." She popped her head out. "I don’t understand why."

"Because I like you," he replied calmly.

"But whyyyyy? You could have any girl with that smile." She was exasperated and feeling sorry she had started the conversation. 

"Because I like _you_. It’s hard to explain why you like someone." She gave him a look that said his answer was not satisfactory. "I guess, you make me laugh, and I enjoy being around you. I can never wait for the next time I get to see you. When you make fun of me I feel nervous and happy at the same time. Sometimes I don't even understand it, but I like it. Plus, I already told you, I think you're cute. Believe it or not I don't actually get to meet many girls and I've never met any girl like you." He left out the part about how he felt when she touched him, not wanting to sound like a pervert.

"But I'm mean to you." She still couldn't comprehend it. 

Wenjun shook his head. “You _try_ to be mean, but there's not a mean bone in your body. You're nice to everyone, as long as they don't make you mad. It's not surprising that everyone likes you." She scoffed loudly. "You really don't see it?" 

She didn't want to, and she absolutely refused to think about it. Instead she remained silent and stared at the ceiling while she thought over whether she liked him back. He watched her and felt content even though part of him would have liked to be next to her. 

Of course she liked him. She'd lied when she said she didn't know. She had just been squashing those feelings down inside her for so long they seemed ridiculous to her now. She tried to think of reasons why she did like him, and realized he was right. It was hard to define. She rolled over to look at him and was surprised to see him looking back at her. "I can't think when you look at me," she told him and he laughed, but closed his eyes, hoping she was thinking about him. 

Of course he was attractive. That was undeniable. And he was a huge dork, but she liked that about him. And he genuinely seemed to appreciate her work, and understood how important it was to her. He was also a good listener and that wasn’t a quality to take for granted. She decided to get off the bed and silently moved to sit at the table, just a couple feet from him. "What if I did like you back?" 

Her question startled him because he didn't hear her move closer, and he was actually becoming so relaxed he had almost dozed off. He awoke with a jump and clutched his heart, laughing his hysterical, goofy laugh. She liked the sound of it. "What was your question?" He asked when his breathing calmed down.

"What if I like you back? What would happen then?" She wondered.

The question struck him as slightly odd. "Well, then I guess we could start dating. I could be your boyfriend." He sounded unsure himself, partially because he'd never really found himself in the position of mutual liking with someone before.

"But you're an idol. You can't really have a girlfriend can you?" 

"No, not really, not openly," he admitted. "But I'd do anything to spend more time with you."

"Okay. Say we started dating, and we managed to keep it a secret. You'd still be leaving in a couple of months. Then what?"

He laughed. "Do you always look at the end before you begin?"

She shrugged. "You need to know where you're going. It's called vision."

"I like to think there are some destinations we haven't thought of yet. If we just keep moving forward, who knows where we could end up." 

"Huh." She rested her face in her wounded palm and thought about it. She didn't like the idea of going without a road map. The analytical and goal oriented side of her personality couldn't handle it. She had gone several years without liking anyone and she'd drawn a map of her own. She knew the destination she was heading for, and the idea of deviating from that terrified her to her core. She shook the idea out of her head and looked out the window again. Still raining. "You can sleep in the bed, if you want. I'll sleep here on the floor."

He shook his head. "You go to bed. I'll just stay here until it stops raining, and then I'll go back to the hotel."

She sighed and went back over to her bed. She felt safer under the covers. She rolled onto her side so her back was to him.

"Hey, Xiao Xiao?"

"Yeah?" She didn't turn around. 

"Do you like me?"

"No." 

"Okay," he smiled. They both knew she was lying. Nuwa clutched the covers tighter around herself. Wenjun got up to turn off the lights before returning to his place on the floor.

He woke up in the early morning, when the sky was still gray. He rubbed his eyes groggily and looked over at Nuwa. She had turned back toward him in the night, but appeared to be fast asleep. Quietly he removed the robes she had given him and put on his own clothes, not bothering to go into the bathroom. Nuwa was stirred by the movement and caught just a glimpse of him in his boxers when his back was turned before sleepily closing her eyes again and falling back asleep. Silently he let himself out of her apartment and walked back home, thankful that he would be able to go back and sleep for a few more hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow. A lot of people read this over Halloween weekend. And I appreciate each and every one of you. I hope you enjoyed this.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zhengting and Justin make a visit to join team WenNuwa. Will they succeed in pushing the two closer together?

Bi Wenjun woke up several hours later to his phone ringing to the tune of ‘WYTB.’ It was Zhengting. 

“What’s up?” Wenjun mumbled when he answered the phone. 

“Are you still sleeping? It’s after ten am!” Zhengting cried from the speaker. 

“Uh. I had a late night. What’s going on?”

“I have a surprise for you.”

“What surprise?”

“Go down to the lobby of your hotel and find out,” Zhengting said mysteriously and hung up. 

Wenjun looked around for his pants. They still smelled like rain. He dug around in his drawers until he found his pair of Sketcher’s sweat pants he still had from Idol Producer and a random t-shirt he didn’t notice he put on inside out. Still sleepy, he pushed a snapback backwards over his hair and stumbled out into the hallway and onto the elevator. As soon as the doors opened and Wenjun walked out, Zhengting threw his arms around the taller man. “I missed you, Wenjun!” he said happily. 

“Zhengting, what are you doing here?” Wenjun asked, shocked but pleased to see his best friend. 

Justin looked up briefly to nod at his older brother and then looked back at his phone. 

“We were bored at the house all alone, so we came to visit you,” Zhengting explained. “Are you filming today?”

“No. I have the day off.”

“Great, then you can show us around! I promised Justin I would have a sword fight with him.” Wenjun agreed and was about to set off. “You might want to change,” Zhengting told him gently, tugging on the tag outside of his shirt. 

“I meant to do that,” Wenjun said before turning back to the elevator. 

He let the boys into his hotel room and began looking for some more suitable clothes. His head felt a little fuzzy from the night before and he was still struggling to fully wake himself up. Fragments of his time with Nuwa broke into his mind, little by little. 

Zhengting looked around at the messy floor, clothes strewn everywhere. “You’re even more of a slob here than at home,” he remarked as he gathered up some of the clothes from the floor and put them into a hamper. 

“Where are you staying?” Wenjun asked, ignoring the criticism. 

“Just a few floors up. I’ll take Justin home to Hangzhou tomorrow and then head to Shanghai for a few days,” Zhengting explained, still tidying. “I was really hoping we would get to see you on set today.”

“Sorry to disappoint. You should have called ahead.”

“No worries,” said Justin, draping his arm over Zhengting’s shoulders. “We _really_ only came here to see your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Wenjun protested. 

“Not yet. Right, President Bi?” Justin continued to tease. Wenjun rolled his eyes, but deep down he did feel slightly more hopeful this morning than he had before. He had confessed at least, and now he just needed to wait to see how things would turn out.

“We’ll help you win her over!” Zhengting cheered. 

Wenjun wasn’t sure he needed their help, or even if they would be able to. “I don’t think so,” he said skeptically. 

“Just let us meet her and we will take care of the rest,” Zhengting assured him. “Where is she now?”

“She’s probably at the workshop.” Wenjun was thankful. 

“We’ll find her tonight. For now let’s go see the town.” 

The three men set off on a tour of some of the most famous sets in the studio city. Wenjun hadn’t had a lot of leisure time since he’d arrived in Xiangshan, so most of it was a novelty for him as well. It didn’t take long for them to be recognized by the teenage girls and young women who were lucky enough to be visiting on a weekday. They tried to be good sports about being followed. 

Xiao Nuwa was grateful to the cast members who had been honest about not messing up any of their costumes the day before. Without any costumes to repair or completely remake she got out of work at what was to her a relatively decent hour, a little after 6 pm. The streets were mostly deserted and she walked through the streets feeling surprisingly at ease. She had been thinking of Wenjun’s confessions the night before, and she found her heart somewhat softened toward him. He had been kind and gentle and respectful of her boundaries. She wasn’t sure that she was ready to admit her feelings for him or that she was at all willing to enter into any kind of relationship with him, but she still felt somehow lighter in her situation. She just so happened to be looking at a selfie he had posted with Justin and Zhengting when she rounded the corner to her street. 

Bi Wenjun hit Zhengting lightly on the shoulder as he spotted Nuwa walking toward them. They were sitting near the open window of a tea house just a few doors down from her apartment building. 

“Xiao Nuwa!” Zhengting yelled at her, getting out of his chair. Wenjun’s eyes widened and Justin grinned.

She stopped in her tracks, halted by her name, called by someone she surely didn’t know. She looked all around her on the street, but didn’t see the caller. 

Zhengting quickly ran to the entrance of the tea house where she was now standing. Bi Wenjun followed him with panic, not knowing what Zhengting was planning. Justin followed the older men, an amused smile plastered on his face. 

“Xiao Nuwa?” Zhengting asked as he stood in front of her. 

Her eyes widened, but otherwise her face was frozen in shock. She wasn’t all that familiar with the boys from NEXT, although she’d have to admit she knew all their names and a couple of their songs by now. She did know that his face was one she had just been looking at only seconds earlier. It was still sitting dimly on the screen of her phone. Without saying anything she bowed deeply. “Hello,” she said with a shaky voice. Her eyes darted to Wenjun, who also looked surprised with his mouth hanging open slightly, but was actually enjoying watching her reaction. “You’re…”

“I’m Zhu Zhengting!” he introduced himself with his enthusiastic, wide smile. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Her eyes widened once more and she looked at Bi Wenjun again. 

“Not a lot,” he said very quietly. 

Justin slinked his way around Wenjun to put his arm around Nuwa’s shoulders. “I’m Justin,” he said with a wink. “President Bi may be tall, but I’m the handsome one.” Both of the older gentlemen tried to hold in laughter. 

The flirtation of NEXT’s youngest member suddenly helped her to regain her senses. “Xiao Bi, here I have been thinking you were so young, and now you’ve brought me an actual baby.”

Wenjun and Zhengting laughed openly now. Justin frowned and let his arm fall from her shoulders. She gently pat his head, thinking he looked like a sad bunny with his poofy platinum hair. She looked around their shoulders. 

“Is Chengcheng with you?” she asked. 

Justin’s mouth formed into a wide “O” shape. “Is Chengcheng your bias?” he asked, sparing a look for Wenjun who was not laughing anymore and had returned to looking shocked. 

“What? No. I don’t have a bias,” she protested. “I met him a few years ago when he was visiting his sister on set,” she explained. 

Wenjun relaxed. “Xiao Xiao knows everyone who works in film.”

“Wow,” Zhengting said with genuine amazement. He had always wanted to meet Fan Bingbing, but his friendship with Chengcheng had yet to help him achieve that goal. 

“Oh, well, I doubt he remembers me anyway,” she brushed off the topic. 

“Come have tea with us!” Zhengting said suddenly, taking her by the wrist. 

“Oh...I...uh…” She couldn’t think of any excuse to get out of it. She looked up at Wenjun, who had his hands in his pockets and was smiling at her gently. It reminded her of all the good feelings she had been carrying around just minutes earlier and she allowed herself to be pulled into the tea house. 

She noticed that there were several empty dishes on the table where they had been sitting. They had been there well over an hour, waiting for her to appear. It had not been Wenjun’s idea, but he gave in to Zhengting’s insistence of meeting her and knew this would be a spot they were sure to see her. Zhengting now waved at their waiter to bring them more tea and some snacks. 

“Wenjun says you’ve worked on a lot of TV series. I wonder if I’ve seen any.” Zhengting began to ask Nuwa lots of questions about her work and herself, and she was surprised at how at ease she felt talking to him with his friendly and warm nature. He was genuinely trying to get to know the woman his best friend was crushing on, and Wenjun enjoyed getting to hear her answer many questions he had been too shy or hadn’t had the opportunity to ask her. 

Eventually, Wenjun had to excuse himself to the restroom. He was a little anxious about leaving Nuwa alone with his bandmates, but they had been sitting there drinking tea for a long time and he couldn’t hold it anymore. He knew Zhengting wouldn’t say anything truly dangerous while he was gone, although he wasn’t sure about Justin. He needn’t have worried though, because Justin complained of being tired from walking about all day and decided to go back to the hotel early, although Zhengting suspected he just wanted to get out of paying the bill. So Zhengting and Nuwa were left all alone just as it was getting dark. 

“You know, Wenjun really likes you,” he said, not wasting any precious time. 

“I know,” she said with a small, involuntary smile pulling up the right corner of her mouth. 

“I’ve never actually seen him have a crush on a girl before,” Zhengting continued.

“Really?”

“Yeah. We’ve only known each other for a few years, and we don’t really get to meet a lot of women, but I’ve never seen him like this before.” He looked around to make sure his friend wasn’t coming back yet. “I know he can be shy and kind of dorky, but he’s really sweet and deep underneath it all. I hope you’ll give him a chance.”

Wenjun was coming back before Nuwa had a chance to respond and Zhengting smiled happily at his friend, feeling proud of himself for what he was sure was helping. 

Wenjun woke up early the next morning to a call from the studio saying the outdoor filming they had planned was canceled due to rain. He had another day off.

He went up to Zhengting and Justin's room where they were packing up. He told them they could stay and hang out for another day. He hadn't realized before how much he really did miss his friend. 

Zhengting put his hand on the taller man's shoulder. "Sorry, Jun-ge, we've got other places to be," though he regretted it, too. "But you should make good use of this valuable time." Zhengting gave him a suggestive smile.

"What do you mean?"

Zhengting sighed at his slow friend. "If you have the day canceled, there's a chance she does, too. Maybe you could spend it together."

"Oooh," Wenjun replied, feeling dumb. Why hadn't he thought of that?

After seeing his friends off, Wenjun pulled up the hood of his raincoat, walked to a well disguised convenience store, and loaded up on snacks. Then he went over to Nuwa’s apartment. He could have texted her before, since she had given him her number, but he figured she might be more receptive if he was there dripping on her doorstep. He wasn't even sure if she'd be there, but he figured it was worth the shot. He knocked lightly on the door and, to his surprise, she answered quickly. 

She was wearing black sweatpants and a grey t-shirt. He laughed. They were dressed the same. Her hair was disheveled and she ran her fingers through it nervously. He looked like his cool, perfect self, she thought. 

"Hey. What are you doing here?" She asked, anxiously pulling at the hem of her shirt. She felt happy to see him, though. 

"You have the day off, too?" She nodded. "What are your plans?"

"Mm, I haven't had a day off in a long time, so I was going to catch up on some dramas." She looked back to her laptop.

"Would you like some company?" He asked, holding up the plastic bag he was carrying. "I brought snacks." 

She hesitated for half a second before opening the door wide and inviting him in with a smile.

"What are we watching?" He wondered, setting the bag on the floor so he could take off his coat. She took it for him and hung it up to drip in the bathroom. She deeply regretted that there weren't more places to sit in her apartment. She had never intended to have guests. She had planned to spend all day laying in her bed with her laptop.

"I Will Never Let You Go," she told him, trying to decide where to put him.

"That has Zhang Bin Bin, right?" He asked with a teasing smile.

"Um, yes," she blushed.

"Did you work on it?"

"No. I don't work on _everything_ ," she laughed in spite of herself. "I'm sorry. My apartment isn't very comfortable for guests. We can sit on the floor or on my bed." She looked embarrassedly at both options.

"Whatever you're comfortable with, I'm fine either way," he assured her. He was just happy to be there and that she seemed to be more open to him than she had ever been one-on-one. He was accustomed to her kind and accommodating behavior on set, but he was pleased to feel her being more relaxed and less defensive now that they were alone.

Nuwa opted for somewhere in between. "Help me move the table," she instructed Wenjun and they moved it back so they could sit on the floor and rest against the bed while watching on her laptop. This felt like a comfortable middle ground for her. "Would you like some coffee?" She was glad she owned more than one mug. One more, to be exact.

He smiled and nodded. "Black, please." He folded himself down to sit in front of the computer. 

After she handed him a cup, she couldn't think of anything else she could do to make him comfortable. He didn't seem too wet from the rain, and he had brought his own snacks. She looked around nervously. "Is there anything else you need?" 

He shook his head and patted the ground next to him. Shyly, she sank down to his level. Her heart was racing and she couldn't make it stop. Could he hear it? Wenjun on the other hand was calm, and she let the contented way he sipped his coffee settle her nerves. She had never really taken notice before of just how zen and collected he truly was. There were all those times at the beginning of their acquaintance, and many times on set, that he tried to make others laugh, but really he never seemed to get shaken by anything, at least not that she could tell. He was steady, and she liked that. After a moment of sitting there, sipping coffee, he caught her watching him and she suddenly jumped to start the show. 

They watched a couple of episodes without talking very much. She was growing more and more at ease by his side. She enjoyed his carefree, dorky laughter and both of them felt comfortable in their silence. At lunch time, they ordered a pizza and it arrived just at the right moment when an episode was ending.

"Did you always want to be an actor?" Nuwa asked out of the blue as they ate.

Wenjun shook his head and swallowed. "I'd never really considered it. I went to school for singing. I didn't really want to be in a boy band either," he admitted. 

"Why not?" 

He blushed slightly. "I hate dancing."

She giggled a little. "I hate doing things I'm bad at, too."

"How do you know I'm bad at it?" He wondered.

"It's called the Internet, Wenjun," she told him. "There are a lot of videos there."

He covered his face and laughed, however he was more pleased that she had looked him up than he was embarrassed. And it didn't slip his notice that she'd used his given name for the first time, even though she hadn't noticed it herself.

"I liked your friends. Zhengting seems really nice."

"He's great. He's kind of our big brother. He's always helping everyone, just like you." 

Nuwa smiled and turned her head away, shy but also pleased that he thought she was helpful. She always strived to be dependable and was glad her efforts didn't go unnoticed.

When they finished eating they decided to return to the show, but move to the bed to be more comfortable. Nuwa sat with her back against the wall and motioned for Wenjun to sit beside her. He did so cautiously, giving her a little bit of space. She moved closer to him so that her leg and her side were touching his, leaving him no choice but to tentatively put a long arm around her. To his delight, they were finally touching _on purpose_. She leaned a little more into him and he tightened his hold a little. It felt natural. They started the video again and before long they both settled into each other's warmth. With the grey sky and quiet rain outside and the warmth of Wenjun inside, Nuwa soon became so comfortable nestled against his shoulder that she started to doze off. A few minutes passed before her head popped up, shocked at where she had fallen asleep and locked eyes with him. He gave her a charming smile, and she couldn’t move or breathe, like prey caught in the sights of a predator. She simply remained there in his gaze. He slowly lifted his other hand up to hold the side of her head and moved his face closer to hers, never letting his eyes shift from hers until he was close enough for their lips to meet. 

She accepted the kiss with shock that didn’t dissipate until several seconds later when he pulled away. She blinked.

“Was that okay?” he asked. His eyes were suddenly softer and a little self conscious. 

She nodded, and to her surprise, she put both of her hands on his neck to pull him back in for another kiss, this one deeper and more mutual. She hadn’t known how much she wanted to kiss him. She seemed to have been hiding a lot of feelings from herself. Her tongue lightly traced his bottom lip and he smiled as his slipped out to meet hers. He tightened his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. 

"Wow," he breathed when she finally pulled away. His expression of real shock embarrassed her and she fell over on her side to bury her face in her comforter. "No, no, no," he said, trying to pull her back up. "I found you. You can't hide now," he teased. She refused to look up. He closed her laptop and set it aside so he could tickle her until she flipped over, writhing and giggling. He laid his body on top of her to hold her there on her back and gingerly brushed hair out of her face before he said, "You're a really good kisser." He gave her a light peck on the lips.

"So are you," she smiled, even though she wanted to disappear again.

"Really?" He smiled proudly. 

"Mhm." She lifted her head up to try it again. 

She let him lead this time as he kissed more passionately than before. She was able to get her arms around his neck and hold him close as he let his weight sink into her. He let his hand wander up and down her side, gently squeezing her thigh before working his way back up. As they continued to make out he let his hands linger at her hips, around the edge of her shirt before bravely slipping underneath to touch her skin. Electric. She didn't react at first although she felt the current running through her body the moment he touched her. It wasn't until he started to move his hand northward that alarms went off in her head. 

She sat up immediately, sliding out from underneath him. Both retreated to positions of safety and took similar poses, holding their knees to their chest.

"I'm sorry," he said immediately, feeling genuinely bad, and a little rejected. 

"No, I'm sorry. It just happened really fast."

"Don’t apologize. I got carried away," he admitted. 

Nuwa cleared her throat. “Maybe we should go back to the show?” she suggested, moving closer to him again. 

“Sure,” he replied, his voice shaking over the small word as he reached for her computer. To his relief she came to sit as close as she was before, so at least he hadn’t driven her away. He smiled and put his arm around her again, trying to relax. 

Nuwa felt warm in his embrace again, but she couldn’t focus on the show with all the thoughts racing through her head. He had kissed her. Bi Wenjun had actually kissed _her_. And she wanted to do it again. But he definitely seemed like he wanted to do more. What did he take her for? No. She definitely wasn’t ready to do that. But damn, he was a good kisser. _We don’t let boys fuck up our grind_ , she groaned internally. She was not prepared for any of this. 

It didn’t escape Wenjun’s notice that she had gone quiet. And still. Not still like when she had fallen asleep on him, but still like tense. _She probably just needs time to process_ , he thought. That was fair. He just hoped he hadn’t taken things too far. When the episode ended he stretched his long arms. 

“I think I’ll go. There’s probably some stuff you need to do. I won’t take up your whole day,” he said politely as he shifted her laptop aside and got off the bed. 

“Oh. Okay,” she replied, a little distant, or maybe it was disappointed? He could hope. 

He got up to put his shoes on and she followed him to the door. “Thanks for letting me hang out,” he said quietly as he looked down on her just a moment before reaching for the door. 

“I had a good time,” she admitted, smiling in spite of her worries. 

“Really?” he asked. She nodded. “I’m glad. I did, too.” He couldn’t help leaning down for one short kiss that left her tingling all over and then with a casual “Bye bye,” he was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seriously cannot believe you are reading this. You are wonderful. Thank you!


	9. Chapter 9

Nuwa laid on her bed, staring at the ceiling while a million thoughts swirled around her. Wenjun’s lips. Wenjun’s lips against hers. Wenjun’s lips when he smiled. Wenjun’s dimples when he smiled. Wenjun leaving in a month. Wenjun being a fucking idol who had no business coming in and wrecking her whole fucking life. She had a plan, a roadmap, and he wasn’t about to just come in and make her question everything just because of his cute fucking face…

Her phone rang. 

“Hello?”

“Hey! It’s Ju Jingyi! Come have dinner with me,” the high-pitched voice on the other end said. 

“Okay,” Nuwa replied flatly. 

“Seriously? I usually have to beg you to do anything,” Jingyi laughed in her surprise. 

“Where should I meet you?”

“Come to my hotel room. I ordered too much take out and I’ll die if I eat it all,” the girl replied. 

Nuwa swapped her sweat pants for jeans and headed out. The rain had let up at some point while she was thinking and the sun was shining, so they would probably be back to work the next day. She prayed the whole walk to the hotel and the elevator ride up to Jingyi’s floor that Wenjun wouldn’t pop up, and he didn’t. Jingyi opened the door with a huge grin. 

“I can’t believe you came!” 

“Well, you’re not gonna believe this, but I have a lot on my mind, and you might be the only person I can talk to about it,” Nuwa grumbled. 

Jingyi could barely hold in her glee. She was shaking with excitement. “Come, sit!” She led Nuwa to a small living space and offered her some water and told her to help herself to the food. “What’s going on? Is it Wenjun? What happened when you two left the restaurant the other night?”

Nuwa told her about everything that had happened since Wenjun had confessed his feelings for her in front of everyone. Jingyi squealed and laughed and interrupted a lot, but she eventually got through the whole thing, up to where he’d kissed her and then left. 

“But you _do_ like him?” Jingyi confirmed, satisfied. 

“Yeah, I do,” Nuwa admitted reluctantly. “But…”

“But what? God, Nuwa, it’s not that complicated. You like someone, then be with them.”

“That’s the problem though. How can we _be_ together. Someone like him can’t be with someone like me.” Jingyi wanted to interrupt, but Nuwa wouldn’t let her. “I’m not trying to put myself down. I love what I do and I’m really proud of it. What I’m saying is, there’s a reason I don’t date actors. You guys leave in two months. They all leave eventually. And my whole life is here. I like it that way. This is where I live and work, and I love it. So, where do we go from here?”

“Long distance relationships do happen, you know.”

“Sure, but I think both parties someday hope it won’t be long distance. And I don’t think either of us wants our lives to change,” Nuwa replied reasonably. 

“Well, some people date just for fun,” Jingyi shrugged. 

“Do I seem like someone who has fun?” Nuwa asked, trying to hold back a grin in spite of her words. 

“You do actually, just in really weird ways,” her friend laughed. 

Nuwa sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I just don’t know what I’m going to do.” She leaned back on the couch and stared at a new ceiling. She wasn’t really any closer to answers than she had been alone in her apartment, but it felt good to talk to a girl friend about it. 

“He really tried to go to second base?” Jingyi giggled after a moment. 

Nuwa sighed again, amused. “I don’t know what he was trying to do. He totally freaked me out.” She laughed at herself. 

“Huh. I didn’t really take you for a prude,” Jingyi said after pondering it. 

“I don’t think it makes me a prude to not get freaky with some guy literally a minute after kissing him for the first time. But really, you didn’t see that about me?” 

“Not really. You’re a weirdo, but you give off cool girl vibes. Like you’d be down for stuff.”

Nuwa rolled her eyes. “I haven’t been ‘cool’ since college,” she said, with air quotes.

“Since some guy broke your heart?” Jingyi wondered. 

“Destroyed it.” Jingyi waited for more information. “It’s a long story,” Nuwa said, shaking her head. 

“People say that, and then it usually turns out there’s a short version.” Jingyi settled herself into her seat and looked at Nuwa to start. 

She hesitated a moment longer and then sighed. “It was my first year of college when it started. He was older. Like a lot older.” She took a deep breath and covered her face. “He was my professor, and I should have known better, but-”

“You were a kid.”

“Well, I was-”

“You were a student. A child,” Jingyi interrupted. 

“You haven’t even let me tell you what happened.”

“I will. I just want you to know that whatever happened, it was all his fault. Because you were a kid.” Jingyi looked her friend in the eyes, dead serious. Nuwa had never seen her like that before, so completely devoid of mirth. 

Nuwa swallowed. “Okay. Anyway, I thought he really loved me. I mean, I thought he cared about me. I thought that I knew him. He was nice to me. He made me feel special. It started out slow, you know. He just flirted with me for a while, and then he’d call me to his office to talk, and then I was just showing up to his office, and we’d make out. And then we started doing more, you know. He took me out sometimes. Never to dinner, but to a movie or something. And I thought I knew him. He never talked about having a wife and a kid. The whole Spring semester, it never came up. And we talked many times over the summer, wrote letters, and it never came up.”

“How did you find out?” Jingyi wondered. 

Nuwa took another deep breath and let it out. “I came back in the fall and everything was the same as before. Mostly still meeting in his office. Never going to his place or mine. And then...I got pregnant. And everything blew up. I don’t know what I thought would happen. I guess I thought he’d take care of me. I was really naive. But he finally told me about his family and how he couldn’t have one with me. He took me to get an abortion, and that was the last time I saw him. I was too ashamed to ever confront him face to face, and he wouldn’t answer my phone calls. I almost dropped out, but I couldn’t face my parents, either. He left the university after that year for somewhere else, and it was like everything was erased.”

“Wow,” Jingyi breathed when Nuwa finally looked at her for some response. “That is a shitty story.” 

Nuwa nodded. “You’re the only person I’ve ever told it to.”

“No wonder you’re messed up.”

“Thanks,” Nuwa laughed. 

“I mean, it’s understandable that you would have some hangups about relationships,” Jingyi tried to say more politely. Nuwa just sighed. “But you don’t really think all men are like that? They can’t all be like that.”

“No. Probably not. But why give yourself to someone who’s likely to leave?”

Jingyi opened her mouth, but she didn’t have a response to that. “Well, even if it’s not Bi Wenjun, I hope you find someone who you trust some day,” she finally said. 

“Aw,” Nuwa said, sincerely touched. “I thought we were only hanging out because you wanted me to be with Wenjun,” she admitted.

Jingyi kicked her. “What?! I only wanted you to be with Wenjun because I want you to be happy, jerk.”

“Jingyi, stop. You’re gonna make me cry,” Nuwa laughed, but she meant it. 

The next day they were filming on the back mountain. Nuwa didn’t say much to Wenjun or anyone else when they got ready in the morning. She still hadn’t figured out how she wanted to handle the situation. Yes, she liked Wenjun, but what exactly did that mean for how she should act and where things would go in the future? She was afraid of encouraging him if they were only going to part ways in a month. But damn did she want to kiss him again the moment she saw him. The way he kept looking at her as they rode the site wasn’t helping anything either. Every time she looked at him, he seemed to be looking back at her. Ruichang, and a few other cast and crew members were also in the van with them as they rode over, so she just stayed quiet. 

“So how was it?” Weilong asked later while they were still waiting to start shooting. Weilong, Wenjun and Ruichang were standing around with some other cast members, while Nuwa was helping many of the extras and minor cast members get their archery accessories on. 

“How was what?” Wenjun said absently, looking up from his script. 

“Kissing Xiao Xiao,” Weilong said in a low voice. 

“ _What_?” Ruichang asked, hitting Weilong on the shoulder with his script. 

“How do you know about that?” Wenjun asked, wide eyes darting side to side. 

“Jingyi’s got a big mouth,” the first man replied. 

“Wait! How did you kiss Xiao Xiao?” Ruichang wanted to know. 

“I heard he kind of grabbed her like…” Weilong reached his hand out toward Ruichang’s face, who slapped his hand away. 

“I will kill you, if you touch me,” Ruichang said threateningly. 

“You asked,” Weilong shrugged. 

“You know that’s not what I meant. Wenjun, I swear-”

“Both of you stop. You know how she hates gossip,” Wenjun whispered, looking around again. 

“Aw, you’re such a good boyfriend,” Weilong cooed. 

“I am not her boyfriend,” Wenjun corrected. “Not yet, anyway. I don’t know; she hasn’t really talked to me this morning. I don’t know what’s going on.” He tried to turn his attention back to his script, but a moment later Nuwa was there, helping them all get their accessories on. She had to ask Wenjun to squat down so she could put the shoulder guard on him, and for once when he smiled at her, she smiled back. 

When she got to Ruichang she could see by his expression that he was upset and he wouldn’t look her in the eye. She didn’t have time to ask what was wrong with him though, with so many actors on set. 

The day was busy and long, and although she wasn’t the only crew member from the costume department on set that day, there was too much work to be done to have any time to chat with her friends. At the end of the day, when she’d gathered up all the equipment and set it aside for the next day, Nuwa took a moment to step away from the bustling crew and enjoy the fresh mountain air. She found a secluded spot to sit for a moment at the top of a ridge as the sun was setting. When she got up she hadn’t noticed the muddy ground beneath her, and she slipped, twisting her ankle and falling down the ridge. 

At the vans, Wenjun looked around anxiously for Nuwa. He hadn’t seen her since she’d taken the gear off of him after they’d wrapped, and she wasn’t anywhere around. 

“Has anyone seen Xiao Xiao?” he asked the guys in the van.

“She probably headed back earlier,” Ruichang suggested.

That didn’t sound right to Wenjun. She would probably be the last to leave. He got out his phone to call her, but it went straight to voicemail. 

“Let’s get going,” the driver said to him as he hovered by the open door. 

Something in Wenjun’s gut told him something wasn’t right. “You guys go ahead. I’m going to find her.” He shut the door and they drove away. 

Wenjun walked quickly back to the set. There were still many crew members around, and he asked them if they’d seen Nuwa after a quick look around. He called Weilong and Jingyi to see if they were with her, but nothing. It was getting dark very quickly now and he was feeling more and more nervous. That was when he noticed her bag sitting at the edge of the site, leading into the forest. He went a little way in that direction, calling her name. 

Nuwa had hit her head as she tumbled down the steep hill. Judging by how much the sun had gone down, she couldn’t have been out for more than a couple of minutes, but it was falling quicker and quicker now. She tried to get to her feet, but she’d hurt her ankle, too. She did her best to crawl her way up the steep hillside, and just when she was almost back to the top and slipping back down, she heard someone calling her name. 

“Wenjun?” she called back, thinking it sounded like him. She heard her name again, but it sounded farther away. “Wenjun!” she yelled louder.

He heard his name called to his right, and not too far away, so he hurried in that direction. “Xiao Xiao!” he called again. 

“I’m down here!” she yelled back, and a moment later she could see his face in the dim twilight some ten feet above her up on the ridge. “Be careful! It’s slippery up there,” she warned him. She climbed her way up a few more feet, to where he might be able to reach her. Wenjun hooked one arm around a tree and stretched the other one out to her. Nuwa stretched as far as she could and was just able to reach him. He gripped her wrist firmly and slowly pulled her up. “I knew you didn’t have such long arms for nothing,” Nuwa grinned when she was back up on the ridge beside him.

“How did you get down there?” he wondered, looking curiously over the edge. 

“I was just, you know, enjoying some fresh air, and then I slipped.” She got to her feet and winced.

“Are you hurt?” Wenjun asked anxiously. 

“I may have twisted my ankle. I’ll be fine. Hurry, let’s go,” she urged. 

He gave her his arm and they made it back to the set as fast as they could, but everyone was gone. The last tail lights were already turning the last visible curve. There were no more cars or crew, just the two of them. Wenjun got his phone out again. It was almost dead. 

“I’ve got three percent battery, who should I call?” he asked her. 

“You have the directors number?” she asked. He nodded and called it quickly. His phone beeped and died before anyone picked up. 

“Crap. Do you have your phone?” Wenjun asked. 

She shook her head. “I forgot it in the dressing room this morning. But there’s power up here, do you have a charger?”

“No,” he sighed. “What do we do now?” They both looked around, but there wasn’t much they could see in the dark. 

“It would take us all night to walk the road back to town, and I’m hurt,” Nuwa observed. 

“I know a place that’s closer where there’s shelter, and beds, and maybe even food,” Wenjun said. “Climb on my back, and I’ll carry you down to the school,” he suggested. 

She looked at him doubtfully. “I think I can probably make it that far.”

“You’re not heavy, and I don’t want you to hurt yourself more,” he assured her. “Come on, it’s already getting cold, and I want to get inside.”

She decided not to argue for his sake, but she had one condition. “Take off your robe,” she said. 

“Why?”

“Because I’m covered in mud, and I don’t want it to get muddy.”

“But it’s cold,” he whined. 

“I’ll keep you warm. Hurry,” she insisted, holding out her arm. 

He hesitated and made some more whining sounds, but eventually he took it off and handed it over. She folded the robe carefully and put it in her bag, and then she climbed up on his back. They started off on the moonlit road that led down to the school set. 

“Thank you for finding me,” Nuwa said after several quiet minutes had passed. She had her arms loosely around his shoulders. “I’m sorry you’re stuck out here with me.”

He smiled to himself. “I’d rather be stuck out here with you than you be stranded out here all by yourself.”

“We can take a rest here,” Nuwa suggested as they came to the first buildings. 

“I’m okay,” he told her and readjusted his grip on her. He was getting a little tired, but he wanted to look strong. 

“Where are we?” she wondered as they reached the heart of the campus. Most of the buildings were completely empty, just for show, but they should be getting toward the ones used for filming now. 

“I think the dorms are just through there.” Wenjun nodded with his head down a passage between two buildings. 

“Put me down,” she said. He set her down gently. “If I’m not wrong, there might be some food in that building there.” She pointed to the left. 

Wenjun climbed the steps and slid the door aside, sure enough there were several boxes of packaged snacks, cookies and chips and things, inside. He grabbed an armful of snacks and some water bottles and went back out to her, but she wasn’t there. He looked all around, but didn’t see her anywhere. He was just about to call her name when a light came on in one of the buildings in front of him and she popped a window open. 

“Over here,” she called happily. 

He dumped his findings on the bed where she was resting. “It’s not much, but it’s better than nothing,” he admitted. 

“Thanks,” she grinned, grabbing a bag of chips. She was in a surprisingly good mood, given their circumstances. 

“How’s your ankle? I bet I can find a first aid kit around here somewhere,” he said, about to set off in search of one.

“It’s fine. I just twisted it a little. I’ll live. Come sit down.” She patted the bed. 

“How are your hands?” he wondered, remember how he’d bandaged her up the other night. 

“They’re fine. Almost healed, thanks to you.” She held out her palms to show him. He took one of her hands, just to have the excuse to touch it. She smiled and pulled it away a moment later. 

He cleared his throat and grabbed a bag of chips. "This doesn't count as one of the dinners I owe you, by the way. Don't think I've forgotten."

"I'm pretty sure I owe you now."

Wenjun smiled. “So, you told Jingyi about our kiss?”

Nuwa choked and coughed. He unscrewed a water bottle and handed it to her. “Did she say something to you?!” She shouldn’t have been surprised. She knew Jingyi was a hopeless gossip. 

“No, but Weilong did,” Wenjun laughed. Nuwa turned bright red and was about to start ranting about how she would hang them by their toe nails, but Wenjun told her, “I told them to stop gossiping.”

Nuwa sighed. “Yeah, right. Like that’s going to happen. I’m sure everyone knows by now. Those two don’t know how to keep their mouths shut.” She grimaced. “Thank you for trying, though.”

“Do you not want people to know about us?” he asked. 

“We should probably get some sleep. We’re going to have to get up early and go back up the hill in the morning,” she said, not so subtly changing the subject. 

Wenjun looked around and found a basin. “I’ll go get some water,” he said, and went off into the night. 

Nuwa had been careful not to use one of the buildings that was typically used for shooting, so there wasn’t much in there. She knew there were some clothes being used at props in one of the other buildings nearby and went in search of them, not wanting to sleep in her muddy clothes. She returned before Wenjun did. He caught a glimpse of her bare shoulder as she pulled on a shirt when he walked in. He set down the basin full of water and handed her a clean cloth so she could wash her hands and face. 

“I got you some clean clothes,” she told him, gesturing to the ones she had laid out on the bed. 

He nodded wordlessly and took them around the corner to change. She cleared off the bed and arranged their pillows and blankets to be a few feet apart. Wenjun turned off the light and got onto the hard bed. They both shivered under their blankets for a few minutes in silence. 

“Hey Xiao Xiao?” Wenjun said, breaking the dark quietness. 

“Hmm?”

“You said you would keep me warm,” he said quietly. 

“I...um…” She had said that, and she was also cold. After a moment of hesitation she inched closer to him until she was under his blanket, but still a few inches away. 

“I’m not going to bite you,” he chuckled. 

“Well, no, but you might try something else,” she replied timidly. 

“I thought the kissing was good? I mean, I thought you liked it.”

“It was. I did,” she admitted. “It’s just...after...you...and I...I don’t want to do anything else.” She was thankful it was dark so he couldn’t see her blush. 

“Oh. That’s okay,” he said. “I mean, I wouldn’t...I wasn’t thinking about that.”

They lay there for a minute in the darkness, both wanting, just a little, to disappear into it. 

“I never have...by the way...done that…” Wenjun said, when the silence had become so heavy saying it seemed better than not.

She chuckled lightly. “I know.”

“How would you know?” he asked playfully. 

“It’s written all over your face,” she told him. “Not in a bad way or anything. You just look very...innocent.”

“Oh.” Another brief silence passed before he asked, “Have you ever?”

She sighed. “I have, but not in a long time.”

He smiled. “Well, if I were going to try to do that with you, I definitely wouldn’t do it here.”

She rolled over onto her side to close the remaining distance between them. He put his arm around her shoulder and she rested her head on his chest. “You’ve thought about it?”

He cleared his throat. “No,” he lied. 

“It’s okay if you have,” she grinned, holding back laughter. 

“I haven’t,” he insisted, but his voice was higher than it should have been. 

Nuwa picked her head up and looked at his face. “Thanks again for saving me,” she said and kissed him on the cheek. 

“Anytime,” he smiled. 

She lingered looking into his darkened eyes standing out against his pale face for a moment and before she’d really thought about it she brought her lips to his. He was surprised, but then his hand was in her hair and his arm around her shoulder was pulling her in tighter. After a few minutes she pulled away and laid her head back down on his shoulder. Her cheeks were flushed and she tried to regain her senses. 

Wenjun laughed. “You were worried about me trying something, but I’m the one getting taken advantage of.” Nuwa blushed harder and tried to roll away, but he pulled her tight. “I’m just teasing,” he whispered against her hair. 

“Go to sleep, Wenjun,” she responded and closed her eyes. 

In the morning, Nuwa woke up when the sky was just turning a lighter shade of blue-grey. She shook Wenjun’s shoulder lightly. He opened his eyes, surprised to see her.

“Hey,” he smiled sleepily. 

“Hey. We need to get dressed and get back up the hill. The first crews will be there soon and we might be able to get a ride back down the mountain for you to get to hair and makeup if we hurry.”

He nodded. They got up to change and put the room back in order, and then he carried her back up the mountain as quickly as he could. She had been right and they arrived at the set just moments after the first van full of crew members arrived to set up. They received a few strange looks as Wenjun carried her over to the van and set her down. 

“Woah, Xiao Xiao, what happened to you?” asked the driver of the van after she knocked on the passenger side window. 

“Hey, Yanchen,” she said sweetly. “We got stranded here last night. It’s a long story. Could you give us a ride down to hair and makeup?” 

“Sure. I’ve gotta head back down now anyway. Hop in,” he told her, smiling. 

She looked back at Wenjun and gave him a wink before they climbed into the very back seats. They buckled up and she handed him a bag of cookies she’d stashed away. 

“This is why all the guys like you,” he said quietly as they rode. He had noticed Yanchen looking at them in the rearview mirror. 

“What are you talking about?” she asked, genuinely surprised. 

“Oh, hey Yanchen,” he imitated in a girly voice. 

She rolled her eyes. “You’re exaggerating,” she said and snatched back the bag of cookies. “All the guys do not like me.”

“I thought Weilong was exaggerating when he said it to me, too, but he was right. And now I see why. You’re a flirt.” He grabbed the bag back. 

“Someone should really put a muzzle on that Song Weiling,” she grumbled. “And I’m not a flirt, I’m just nice.”

“You’re nice to get what you want,” he said. She turned her narrowed eyes on him. “Okay, okay, you’re just nice.” He patted her head patronizingly. 

When they arrived back at the studio Nuwa pushed Wenjun toward the hair and makeup department and left him to his own fate while she went off in search of fresh clothes for him. Luckily she had learned to keep extras ready. She left the clothes in the dressing room and grabbed her phone. She planned to go back to her apartment to change and meet them up on the mountain, but was met at the door by Ruichang.


	10. Chapter 10

Ruichang filled up the doorway. He didn’t move to get out of Nuwa’s way as she tried to leave. “What happened to you?” he asked, taking in her dirty appearance. 

“Oh. I had an accident last night,” she said, looking away. 

“Last night? Wenjun was looking for you…”

“Yeah, he found me,” she told him, unable to meet his eyes. Ruichang was the only person who really knew her, and it made her nervous, knowing the gossip that was probably swirling around her.

“Did you guys just get back?” he asked, his eyes narrowing. 

“Um, yeah,” she admitted. 

“So, there is really something going on between you two?” he asked quietly. 

She sighed. “Chang-gege, don’t ask me. I really don’t know. I...I haven’t figured it out,” she admitted. 

“Well, I hope you figure it out soon.” They both stood there awkwardly for a second before he moved aside and let her go. 

“What happened to you last night?” Lingfeng, the hairdresser, asked when Wenjun walked in. Song Weilong and Chen Yilong were still there. Weilong caught sight of Wenjun’s disheveled appearance in the mirror and raised his eyebrows curiously. 

Wenjun scratched his ear nervously. “I got left behind out on the mountain,” he said quietly. 

“Alone?” Weilong asked, looking at him sideways since he couldn’t turn his head. 

“Did you sleep in this wig?” Lingfeng interrupted before Wenjun could be forced to answer. 

“Yeah, sorry,” he responded sheepishly. Lingfeng made an annoyed sound and began to comb aggressively through the wig. 

Nuwa rushed home to clean up and change. She made it back just in time to catch the last van with a bunch of extras to the shooting site. By the time she arrived, the gossip was already getting around the set that Nuwa and Wenjun had spent the night up on the mountain. The first crew had seen them coming out of the woods together, and then Yanchen had observed them closely in the backseat of his van, and of course there was already the gossip from the day before. It was Nuwa’s worst nightmare come to life. The worst part was that these people, the extras and the crews, were people she worked with all the time. When Bi Wenjun left, whatever happened between them, he wouldn’t have to deal with it, but she would. She tried to act like she didn’t see the sideways glances or hear the whispers as she went about her work. She avoided being anywhere near Wenjun at all costs, but it wasn’t completely unavoidable.

Jingyi pinched her when Nuwa limped over to help her. “You spent last night with Wenjun?” she hissed. 

“Ow!” Nuwa yelped and rubbed her arm. “It’s not what you think. He just came to help me, and then we got stranded out here. So technically, yes, we spent the night together, but nothing happened.”

“ _Nothing_ happened?” the star asked, not believing her friend. 

Nuwa looked around. “We just kissed. That’s all. I swear.” Jingyi eyed her skeptically, but accepted her answer. “I hate this,” Nuwa groaned. “Make them stop.” She almost wanted to cry. 

“Sorry. The rumor mill runs on its own power,” Jingyi told her. 

“Can you promise not to help it along?” Nuwa begged. “I still have to have a life in this town after all this.”

“I don’t know what the big deal is. So, people talk? Who cares? You snagging a guy like Bi Wenjun can only make you look good,” Jingyi told her.

Nuwa wanted to tell her not to talk about him that way. Or that she hadn’t snagged him. But all she could do was give her puppy-dog eyes. “Jiejie,” Nuwa begged, pulling on her sleeve. 

Jingyi sighed. “Okay. I won’t add any fuel onto the fire,” she promised. 

Although she continued to avoid him all day, Wenjun met up with her at the vans as she was getting ready to leave. 

“Hey, Xiao Xiao,” he said after doing a little jog to catch up and stop her from getting in the first van to leave. She hesitated, contemplated jumping in and telling the driver to floor it, but she stopped and turned to him. She didn’t say anything, but she could feel the eyes of everyone inside the vehicle on her. “Have dinner with me tonight?” Wenjun asked quietly. 

She was supposed to say no. She was supposed to say, _Please get away from me. You’re wrecking my whole world._ But she was distracted by the wig and his dimples and she just said, “Okay.” Then she got in the last seat of the van and closed the door before it drove away. All eyes in the van by the driver’s were on her as they trundled off down the bumpy road, and she wanted to disappear.

When she got back she tried to hurry through some tasks before going home to change. Technically it should not have been a date. It was supposed to be two colleagues(?) getting dinner so one could make up for a transgression against another. But she knew that was just not the reality. So maybe she should wear something other than jeans and a t-shirt. But what? She’d never actually been on a date. Not a real date. It took her forever to decide on a pretty knee-length dress, black with small white flowers. 

Wenjun had texted her a place and a time. She was late. Just when he started to think she wasn’t going to show up, Nuwa came rushing nervously into the restaurant. They had had a late day, so virtually everyone in the restaurant was a resident, like her. She recognized a lot of faces as she scanned the room looking for him. He noticed her and raised a long, thin hand to get her attention. When she saw him she tucked her hair behind her ear nervously and hurried to his table. He stood as she arrived, but she hurried into her seat. 

“Sit down!” she demanded quietly, but urgently. If people hadn’t already noticed her come in, they would definitely see him standing, tall as he was. _This was a terrible idea_ , she thought.

He looked around as he sat down. There were definitely a few people looking in their direction, and he guessed that was the source of her urgency. “You look great,” he said with a bright smile that lit up his eyes.

She cleared her throat. “Thanks. You, too,” she said, but she wasn’t looking at him. Instead she was pretending to study the menu. She chanced a look up at him to see him looking softly at her from under his flop of hair. Suddenly she felt the flutter of butterflies in her stomach and averted her eyes again. She gripped the menu so tight her knuckles were turned white. Now she didn’t know if she was nervous because of the people staring at them or because he was sitting across from her, looking perfect and being sweet. _What am I doing here?_ she whined to herself. She looked to the side. Luckily they were seated in a corner, so there weren’t people on all sides of them. It seemed most people had finally decided to look at something else. She tried to relax. 

“What do you want to eat?” Wenjun asked politely, trying to make conversation.

Nuwa looked at her menu and said the first thing she saw. “Mmm. Twice-cooked pork?” 

“That sounds good. How about some fried tofu, too?” he suggested.

“Great,” she forced a smile and set down her menu. She sat quietly and sipped her water until the waiter came to take their order. 

“Xiao Xiao, are you okay?” he finally asked when the waiter was gone. 

She looked at him and pursed her lips. “To be honest, I don’t know how to deal with all of this.”

“All of what?” he wondered. 

She sighed. “I know you realize people are talking about us and looking at us all the time. You can’t be oblivious to that.”

Wenjun shrugged. “So what?” He was used to it. 

“So you don’t care that that girl over there from the props studio took our picture a couple minutes ago and it’s almost definitely on the internet now?” 

Wenjun swallowed. That would honestly probably not be good for him. He had an image to maintain, afterall. But he stuck to his guns. “Why should I? Why do you?”

Nuwa set her forearms on the table and leaned forward. “We both have careers we care about, Wenjun. I know it. You really think this is worth the risk?”

He studied her face for a minute and decided to pull a play from her book and avoid the question. “Then why did you agree to come out?”

She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. “Pfft.” _Because you’re fucking cute and you weaponize it_ , she thought. 

“Look. We are already here. The damage is done. Everyone is already talking,” he admitted. “But I know that you like hanging out with me, so why not just relax and enjoy some food and talk to me like it’s not going to ruin your whole life?”

She looked at him sideways. He had a point. She let her hands fall into her lap. “So, those ancient beds, huh?”

Wenjun laughed. “So hard, right? No offense to you, but that was easily the most uncomfortable night of sleep I’ve ever had, and I’ve slept on a lot of floors.”

“I don’t know. I still think falling asleep at the workbench is worse,” she grimaced. 

“Hey, I am here trying to apologize for that,” he said, gesture to the general setting. 

“I wasn’t actually thinking about that particular time. But I’m not holding it against you,” she told him. “I still don’t fully understand how that happened anyway.”

“Honestly, I don’t fully understand how it happened either. I think Weilong was trying to have me killed. One second, we were there talking about how you were ignoring me, and the next thing I know there was coffee all over me.”

“Wait. Are you telling me that Song Weilong ruined my costume on purpose?” she asked through gritted teeth, her eyes widening. 

Wenjun scratched his neck and laughed an awkward breathy laugh. 

Nuwa shook her head and sighed heavily. “Nevermind. It doesn’t matter,” she told herself. 

Their food came and they chatted for a long time. She was able to relax and they both enjoyed each other’s company. They were some of the last diners in the restaurant by the time they left. 

“I’ll walk you home,” Wenjun told her as she stood in the street, expecting to part ways. 

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” she said, as there were still some people out on the street. 

He looked around. “Maybe. But if I don’t walk you home then I’ll have to kiss you goodnight here in the street. And that may draw unwanted attention,” he said quietly. 

She smiled. “Okay.” 

“Thank you for finally coming out with me tonight,” Wenjun said in her doorway. He was willing to kiss her in the empty lobby of her building, but she had insisted he come up stairs and now she was bringing him into her apartment. He hadn’t been expecting that. 

“I had a good time,” she admitted. “You can consider your debt cleared.”

He took a step toward her and brushed the hair behind her ear, leaving his hand at the side of her face. “That’s not really what tonight was about, was it?” 

She shook her head. She knew that before she’d even left for the restaurant. 

Wenjun leaned down to kiss her. It was a soft kiss, but a fully committed one. The longer it went on the less it felt like a ‘goodnight’ and the more it felt like a ‘good evening.’ He held onto her head with both hands. Their height difference was certainly an obstacle to be overcome, and her pulling him toward the bed to sit seemed to be the solution. Sitting beside each other, the kissing got heavier, and Wenjun put his hand on her knee and slowly slid up her thigh. He was trying to be cautious. It had made it to him through Jingyi and Weilong that he had moved too fast and too far on their first kiss, and he remembered clearly what Nuwa herself had told him the night before, but he couldn’t help that he wanted to touch her. He’d wanted to feel her under his hands since the first time she had touched him months ago. 

Nuwa hadn’t exactly planned this when she had told him to come up to her tiny apartment. But she’d be lying to herself if she said she didn’t want it. And boy was she good at lying to herself. She knew it felt right, though. Or at least it felt good, and that was close enough to right in the moment. Her body took over what her brain was clearly not capable of managing. Without warning she swung her leg over so she was straddling the tall, gorgeous boy she had brought to her bed. 

Wenjun, as always, took her actions in stride. His hands wandered over her hips and across the small of her back as he pulled her into him. Her fingers entwined in his hair, pulling his face to hers. After a few minutes she pulled away, breathless. She leaned back onto his knees and sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair. 

“What is this?”

“What is what?’ he wondered, looking at her with dark eyes, still adjusting to not kissing her.

“Us. What are we? What are we doing?” 

“What do you want it to be?”

“I don’t know, Wenjun! I’m looking for answers here, not more questions!” She removed herself from his lap to sit beside him. 

He laughed. “Okay.” 

“I’m sorry. I just...I like to have things defined. I don’t deal well with ambiguity.”

He gathered his thoughts for a moment. “I guess you could say we’re dating. That’s what we did tonight, right?”

“Is that what you want?” she wondered. 

He nodded. “Of course. I like you. I enjoy spending time with you. I would like to try having a relationship with you.”

Nuwa took a deep breath. “Okay, I know I’m being a lot right now, but I have to rationalize everything, and I can talk myself out of anything. So, why should we try? I mean, you can’t even really date me, and you’re going to leave soon.” 

“You need me to give you a reason?” he asked with a little laugh. 

“Yes.”

“Then, we should try because we’ve never done it before. Because it’s fun. Because it feels good, doesn’t it?”

She bit her lip and smiled. “It does,” she admitted. 

He grinned in the way that absolutely destroyed her and dug dimples into his cheeks. 

She covered his face with her hand and pushed it away. "Watch where you point that thing," she laughed.

He only smiled wider. "Why?" He moved his face closer to hers again. 

"It's dangerous," she said, pulling back from him.

"Does it make you feel things?" he wondered, his eyes blazing and coming toward her. 

"Yes," she breathed, still moving away from him.

"What kinds of things?"

"Nervous…"

"And?" 

"Breathless…"

"Mhm?"

"Hot…"

She was nearly on her back now, but was propped up on her elbows.

"I'll try to stop," he said, his lips an inch from hers. "But if I can't smile at you, can I kiss you again?" She nodded. He brought his lips to hers gently, then moved his lips across her cheek with several kisses until he reached her ear. "Tell me when you want me to stop," he whispered.

"Okay," she breathed as he kissed her neck. 

She laid down on her back and brought his mouth back to hers. Her hands explored his sides and his back while he held himself above her. He slid his hand slowly down her side and to her thigh, surprised to find it bare where her dress had fallen down. They both felt the energy of his fingertips against her skin, but she didn’t stop him. He squeezed and rubbed her thigh gently while his lips returned to her neck, sucking lightly. His hand drifted back up her side until he reached her breast. He groped gently and exhaled as he tried to control himself. After a moment Nuwa cleared her throat. 

“It’s getting late,” she said quietly. 

He moved his hand and pulled back to look her in the eyes. He smiled and nodded. “Okay.” He pushed himself off of her and the bed and ran his hand through his hair. 

“Thanks again for dinner. I really had a good time,” she told him. 

“Me, too. See you tomorrow?” he asked as he lingered at the door. 

“Of course,” she laughed. 

“Right. Okay. Goodnight,” he gave her one last smile before a quick peck on the cheek and then left.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Happy Birthday Bi Wenjun! Happy Birthday Bi Wenjun! Happy Birthday Bi Wen-jun! Happy Birthday Bi Wenjun! 
> 
> So depending on how you perceive time, I may be late, but here is my BWJ birthday update. Hope you enjoy.

Ruichang had been staring daggers at Wenjun on set all week, but deep down he knew he had no one but himself to blame. He could have confessed to Nuwa. He could have been the one to walk her home or to rescue her in the forest. But he had accepted his fate as Weilong had prescribed it, while Wenjun fought against it. All Ruichang could do now was make sure it wasn’t the last round. He knew he could give Nuwa more than Wenjun could. For one thing, he wasn’t an idol. No one would care about who he had a relationship with, and there wouldn’t be as much gossip around them. He could also choose to settle down in Xiangshan and work steady acting jobs if he wanted to stay with her. Plus, he just knew her better and that had to count for something. Still, the fact that they were dating was becoming common knowledge on set, and he knew she wasn’t likely to change her mind once she’d made it. 

After shooting on the mountain all week they were finally back at the dorms. Wenjun wasn’t around, and it was just Jingyi, Ruichang and a few other actors on the scene. Ruichang had to enter from high up in a tree, and on the way down he scratched himself badly on one of the branches. He went on with the scene as no one had noticed, but as soon as the director called cut Nuwa noticed the red stain on the back of his leg. She alerted the director and shooting momentarily halted while someone came to patch him up. 

“Sorry for bleeding on your costume,” Ruichang said regretfully as Nuwa held his hand and patted his arm gently.

“Don’t be silly, Chang-gege,” she said as he winced when an assistant examined the wound. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” He tried to smile at her. 

“You won’t need stitches,” the assistant told him. “Just let me clean it up.” He cleaned the gash and applied an antiseptic. Ruichang squeezed Nuwa’s hand as it burned.

“No, now I think I might die,” he said through clenched teeth. 

“Big baby,” she scoffed jokingly. 

“I might need you to take care of me,” he said quietly, looking down at her. 

“You’ll be fine. It’s just a scratch!” the assistant told him as he pressed a bandage to Ruichang’s thigh. 

“Can you keep going, or should we call it a day?” the director asked once he was done. 

“I’m fine. Let’s keep going,” Ruichang said. He was a professional after all Nuwa made sure everything else was in order and that the tear and the stain wasn’t too obvious. Ruichang was hoisted back up into the air and she went to take her spot behind the camera. That night Nuwa brought dinner to Ruichang in his hotel room to see how he was.   
“You didn’t have to do all this,” Ruichang told her as she set food out in front of him. 

“It’s no big deal. I just wanted to see how you’re doing.” She sat next to him on the couch. 

“I’m fine. It wasn’t that bad. It doesn’t even hurt.”

“Well, I’m glad,” she smiled at him. 

“You really came just to see how I’m doing?” 

“Of course.”

He put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair. “Thank, Xiao Xiao.”

“Eat,” she ordered and they both dug in.

“Do you want to stay and watch a movie?” Ruichang asked after they had finished eating and she was cleaning up. 

“Okay, sure,” she replied, guessing he wouldn’t mind some company. “Whatever you want.”

He put on some American movie. About halfway through he smoothly put his arm over her shoulder. Her eyes slid over to his hand hanging off her left shoulder. This was a position they had been in more than a few times. She wasn’t a stranger to his closeness, and there were even times that she had found it comforting, like when he was shielding her at the restaurant that night that Wenjun had confessed to her. But now something felt distinctly different to her, even wrong. She cleared her throat and turned her head to look at Ruichang, who was looking back at her. They held each other’s gaze for a moment until he began to move his face toward hers while also pulling her in with the hand on her shoulder. She jumped a foot away on the couch just a second before their lips would have met. 

“Chang-gege! What are you doing?” she cried. 

This was it. He had already committed to the move and he couldn’t back out of it. He had to confess now or die. He couldn’t go back. “I like you, Nuwa. No. I-I love you,” he said quietly. 

Her eyebrows came very close together. She swallowed thickly. “Chang-gege. I--You--I think of you like my own brother, except I like you better.”

“Xiao Nuwa, I’ve liked you for longer than I can remember,” he admitted. 

“Chang-gege…”

“We’re so close. I know you. I know that you think of me that way, but I think you could think of me another way, too,” he tried to persuade her. 

“I--I can’t--” she sputtered, looking around her for some black hole to dive into. “Even if I could, I’m dating Bi Wenjun, so I can’t do this.” She got up to leave but he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down to the couch. 

“I don’t think he’s right for you. And I don’t think you think he is either.”

She stared at him for a moment. “I don’t know exactly what you’re trying to say, but it’s not for you to decide anyway.” She pulled her hand away. “I should leave.” She rose again.

“Nuwa, please!” he called, but she was already out the door. 

Nuwa laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling. She was not okay with this. Wenjun was bad enough, but now Ruichang had confessed to her, too, and she had no idea how to handle it. If Song Weilong was right when he told Wenjun that everyone liked her, she wished they’d all just keep it to themselves. If she had had to turn down guys in the past, it had always been more of a subtle turning off that she herself didn’t even notice, and not the explicit rejection she was forced to offer now. Why couldn’t everyone just keep their feelings to themselves like she did? That was the only way that was safe. 

She found, inexplicably, that she wanted to be with Wenjun, instead of laying in her bed thinking about her suitors. But he was out of town for a couple of days working on some other obligations. _Crap._ she realized. She actually missed the damn fool. And if she missed him now, after only a couple of weeks of dating, she was going to be really miserable when he left her for good. _It’ll be better if I just end this now. No Bi Wenjun. No Wang Ruichang. None of these damn boys anymore. Understood?_ she lectured herself. 

Xiao Nuwa had planned to march right into the dressing room on the morning that Bi Wenjun returned to set and end things immediately. She was going to put her foot down and tell him that this was simply not going to work, and they should go back to their purely business relationship. Unfortunately, Wang Ruichang was also in the dressing room when she arrived and things were tense. Neither of the men were saying anything to either other, or even looking at one another, but the air was thick, and Wenjun didn’t even know why. And then Nuwa walked in, and Wenjun gave her that smile that she hated. She froze. 

“Bi Wenjun!” She glared at him. “I told you not to smile at me!” she cried and walked right back out of the room. 

Wenjun’s face fell and his eyes opened wide. Ruichang lifted his eyebrows at the other man before he started to openly and heartily laugh. 

“Xiao Xiao!” Jingyi called at the end of the day as the other woman walked by her dressing room, not realizing that Wenjun was quickly catching up to her. “Come to dinner tonight for my birthday!” Jingyi invited, taking her friend’s arm as she came into the hallway. 

Nuwa narrowed her eyes at her suspiciously. “Is it really your birthday?”

“Of course it is! Why would I lie about that when you can just look it up on your phone. Go on, I’ll wait.”

Nuwa sighed. “You should have told me earlier. I haven’t had a chance to prepare a present for you.”

“I will forgive you, if you and Wenjun both come.” Jingyi smiled at the tall boy as he arrived. She took his hand and put it on Nuwa’s. “I’ll text you the details. See you in a bit!” Jingyi skipped back into the room to fetch her things. 

Nuwa took her hand away and continued on her path out of the building, but Wenjun wasn’t going to let her get away so easily. In a couple of strides he caught back up to her and took her hand again. She pulled it away once more and kept her gaze resolutely forward as she kept walking. He had no choice but to put himself in her path, arms out, leaving her nowhere to go, but she could still look away. 

“Nuwa, what’s wrong?” he wondered. She didn’t respond. “I’ve been gone. What could I have possibly done to make you so angry?” Still she ignored him. He crouched to put his face down in front of hers. “You yelled at me this morning and ignored me all day. What did I do wrong?” he asked sincerely. She was going to turn around and walk in a different direction, but he grabbed her chin gently and held her gaze. She narrowed her eyes, angrily this time. 

“Why do you have this stupid handsome face that I can never get used to?” she growled. 

That was the last thing he could have possibly guessed would come out of her mouth, and it left him momentarily stunned. She took the opportunity to move around him and set off toward the door at a brisk pace, not quite running. He stood up and smiled smugly.

“See you at dinner!” he called after her.

Dinner was a larger affair than previous times that they had gone out together. There were more cast members there, but Nuwa was the only crew member. That fact didn’t make her feel as uncomfortable as how close Wenjun was sitting to her, or how far away Ruichang was. Her old friend was sitting almost at the other end of the long table, staring daggers at her ill-fated boyfriend once again. Wenjun put some vegetables in her bowl, and she glared at him. 

“Bi Wenjun! Stop it. I don’t need you to feed me,” she complained. 

“I won’t stop until you tell me why you’re mad at me,” he said, eating contentedly. 

“I’m not mad. Can we not talk about this here?” she asked, looking around at the others, who were mostly ignoring them, except for Jingyi and Ruichang, though neither could hear what they were talking about, but could see Nuwa’s frustrated expression. 

“Fine. We can talk about it later. For now just eat and drink and be happy. Here,” he said, putting more food in her bowl. 

Jingyi leaned over the table and filled up both their cups with liquor. “Have fun!” she mouthed aggressively to Nuwa. 

Nuwa raised her cup. “To Jingyi!” she said loudly. 

“To Jingyi!” Everyone joined in and drained their cups. They all got far drunker than they should have, knowing they had to work the next day, but the food, wine and company was simply too good for moderation. Wenjun, who usually refrained from getting really drunk, had not been able to stop himself. 

“I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Nuwa told them as everyone spilled out onto the streets. 

“I’ll walk you home,” Wenjun said, stumbling after her. 

“You can barely walk yourself. I should be walking you home,” she said sarcastically. 

“Okay. It’s close,” he agreed. 

“I-” She sighed. She hadn’t intended this, but she couldn’t take it back. After all, she hadn’t broken up with him yet. Wenjun draped her arm around her shoulder and leaned gently on her. She was really not tall enough to support him. 

Jingyi came to her other side and linked her arm with Nuwa’s. “Take me home, Xiao Xiao. I’m tall and sexy and drunk,” Jingyi mocked, followed by uncontrollable giggling. 

“If it weren’t your birthday, I’d beat you,” Nuwa threatened, tapping the older woman on the forehead. Jingyi just laughed more as the three stumbled toward their hotel.

They piled into the elevator, one or two actors exiting per floor until it was just Song Weilong, Jingyi, Wenjun and Nuwa left riding slowly toward the top. They all got off on the same floor. 

“Now, you two be good, and have fun!” Jingyi said suggestively, mostly to Nuwa as Weilong pulled her in the direction of her hotel room. 

Nuwa dragged Wenjun down the hall to his own room, where she had now been twice before. It took him a few tries, but he finally got the door open. She took him inside and sat him down on the couch. She sighed heavily, exhausted from the effort. 

“Okay. Get some rest,” she said and turned back toward the door. 

“Stay,” he ordered, pulling on her hand. 

“We have work tomorrow,” she said simply. 

“It’s already late. You shouldn’t walk home alone drunk. Stay.” He had an undeniable point. She wasn’t that drunk. Not as drunk as him. But she was tired and it was late and she was awfully accident prone. While she hesitated he pulled her down to the couch right beside him. “Let’s talk now,” he slurred. 

“No. You won’t remember tomorrow, and then you’ll be confused,” she told him. 

“Fine. No talking,” he agreed, smiled, and pulled her in for a kiss before she could stop him. And then the battle was already lost, and she didn’t want to stop him anymore. 

_Damn._ Why was he such a good kisser? Why did she have to like the way he held her so much? Why did it have to feel so good? She was lost as he pushed her down on the couch and leaned over on top of her. She was completely helpless as his lips pressed gently against hers and his hand wandered over her torso, under her shirt and over her ribs. His lips moved across her jaw and over to her neck.

“Just have fun,” she whispered to herself without realizing she had said it outloud. 

Wenjun’s hand was touching the cup of her bra now, but his face pulled back to look her in the eyes for a moment before he pulled all the way back and sat up. 

“No,” he said quietly, seemingly to himself. 

Nuwa’s eyebrows knit together. “No what?” she wondered and she pulled herself up. 

He looked at her. “No fun.” She looked at him even more puzzled. “I mean, not just fun. This isn’t just for fun.”

Nuwa suddenly felt much more intoxicated than she had before. “No fun?”

“I have real feelings for you. It’s not just fun,” he clarified, as much as he could in his state. 

“I don’t want to miss you,” she responded, taking him by surprise. 

“What?”

“I missed you when you were gone, and I don’t want to miss you more later. So I think we should stop seeing each other.” Having said what she wanted to say she stood to leave. He grabbed her hand once more, but it took him a moment to find words to say. 

“It’s still not safe,” he finally told her. “Stay here tonight, and we can talk about it tomorrow.” She paused, and then nodded her agreement. “You can sleep on the bed and I’ll stay here.”

She looked at the couch and laughed. “You cannot sleep on the couch. You’re too big. I’ll sleep here and you sleep on the bed.

Wenjun shook his head. “Screw it. We’ll both sleep on the bed, and no funny business. We’ve done it before.”

“Fine,” she agreed one last time.


	12. Chapter 12

Xiao Nuwa woke up early the next morning when the sky was still black. Carefully she slid out of bed without disturbing Bi Wenjun. She put on her shoes and walked through the silent streets back to her apartment to shower and change before going into work. Later she arrived at the dressing room before anyone else and waited, spinning idly in a chair until her head hurt. When Ruichang and Wenjun arrived they were both silent. She jumped out of her chair when she saw them walk in. 

“You have new costumes today!” she said cheerily. She opened one garment bag for Ruichang, who merely grunted at her. “Xiao Bi, here’s yours,” she smiled at him. 

He took the bag from her without a word and opened it himself. She couldn’t quite make out his stoney expression that she had never seen before. She stood in front of him for a moment, trying to discern it, but when he wouldn’t meet her eyes she turned her attention elsewhere. Maybe he remembered what she had said to him the night before about ending things, and this silent treatment was how he was going to deal with it. _This might be awkward, but it’s for the best_ , she told herself, though she had to admit she suddenly felt sad about it. Sadder than she had expected. She helped both men with their costumes, checking their fit one last time. As she tied together the various layers of Wenjun’s robes he looked straight ahead, well above her, and tried not to think of her hands on him. 

Wenjun did remember what she had said the night before, but that wasn’t really what was bothering him. He was sure he could talk her out of breaking up with him. No, he was hurt about her sneaking out in the morning, without even saying goodbye. He thought it was inconsiderate and immature of her, and not speaking to her or acknowledging her was going to be her punishment. As soon as she was finished checking him, he walked out of the room and toward the set still without having spoken a word. 

The chilliness between Nuwa and Wenjun did not escape Ruichang’s notice either. He thought of commenting on it when Wenjun had left the room, but he thought it might just make her mad. Besides, if things had come to an end between them, he would feel a little upset that she had rejected him for what turned out to be a short and shallow fling with Wenjun. And regardless it probably didn’t mean anything good for him anyway. 

Jingyi caught Wenjun staring off into space. She crouched beside him. “Thinking about Xiao Nuwa?” she asked, pulling him from his thoughts. 

He started. “Huh? Oh. How’d you know?”

“Lucky guess. Did you guys have fun last night?” she asked curiously. 

He huffed a laugh. “Not that it’s any of your business, but we just slept.”

“Is everything okay with you two?”

Wenjun sighed. “Well, she just wanted to have fun, but I stopped her. And then she said she wanted to break up. And then this morning she left without saying goodbye. I don’t know what I'm doing wrong.”

Jingyi tried not to laugh. It wasn’t that she was making fun of him, she just laughed at everything. “Why did you stop her?” she wondered.

“First of all, we were drunk. But also, I don’t want whatever happens between us to _just_ be fun. I care about her. And I’ve told her as much, but she still wants to end things.” His bewilderment was clear in his voice. 

“Other than fun, what can you really offer her?” Jingyi asked doubtfully. 

“What do you mean?”

“Xiao Xiao is a sweet girl, but if you want something with her, she needs stability. You can’t really offer that to her, can you?” 

“How do you know that?”

“I know a lot about girls,” Jingyi grinned. 

Wenjun sighed. “I know she’s worried about me leaving, but I can’t help it. It isn’t what I want, but I’ll have to do it. But I treat her wholeheartedly. I want to be good to her. Shouldn’t that count for something? Shouldn’t that earn me a little trust?”

“Listen, not wanting to leave her and not leaving her are two very different things. Your intentions don’t amount to very much if you aren’t going to fulfill them. She’s been hurt and left behind before. So, you should think hard about what you’re going to leave behind when you inevitably go.” Wenjun didn’t know how to respond to that, and she knew he’d need time to mull it over, so she stood and left him back to his thoughts. 

He knew she was right. It didn’t matter what outcome he wanted when only one outcome was certain. Nuwa had said she didn’t want to miss him, so she knew she was already going to hurt when he left. Maybe it was unfair of him to ask any more of her. Maybe it was wrong to ask to be someone she could trust when he wouldn’t be able to follow it up with his support in the future. What kind of promise could he really make to her when he had so little control over his own future? Still, that didn't change the fact that his feelings for her were only growing, and judging by her words so were hers.

Later in the dressing room after Ruichang had already left, Wenjun broke his silent treatment. 

"Are you free tonight?" he asked as she arranged their clothes, lingering longer than she needed to in hopes he would say something. She turned to face him and nodded. "Will you come somewhere with me?"

"Where?" she wondered.

"You'll see."

She waited for him to finish changing and then followed him through the streets. Neither of them said very much until they arrived at the archery range.

"Why are we here?" she asked. 

"For fun," he shrugged.

They went in and got some equipment. There was no one else there, so they had the whole place to themselves. 

"I have a game to play," Wenjun told her.

"What's that?"

"We each get ten arrows. When you hit the bullseye you get to ask a question that I have to answer honestly. When I hit anything seven or above, I ask a question you have to answer honestly."

"Seven or above?! How's that fair?" she complained. 

"It's totally fair! You hit the bullseye every time. Even with a handicap, I'm only going to get to ask five questions."

Nuwa sighed. "Okay. You go first."

Wenjun smiled and loaded an arrow. As expected, he hit the five and hung his head. "Go," he gestured with a long, thin hand.

Nuwa smirked and drew her bow. She thought for a second about missing on purpose so he wouldn't feel so bad, but she took a true shot and hit dead center.

"Okay. Ask a question." 

She thought for a moment and then grinned. "Who's your NEXT bias?"

Wenjun laughed at her unexpected question. "If I weren't a member of NEXT?"

"It doesn’t matter if you’re a member or not, but you can't pick yourself."

"Fine. It would be...Justin."

"Really?" 

"Please don't tell Zhengting."

Nuwa laughed. "Why?" 

Wenjun shrugged. "Kid's got star power." He loaded another arrow and shot, hitting a seven this time. He smiled. 

"Okay. Go ahead." She shook her head, but smiled.

"Why do you like me?" he asked bluntly.

"Pfft. Who said I like you?" She crossed her arms.

"You said you would answer honestly," he reminded her.

She sighed and let her arms down. "I guess I like you because you amuse me. You're also respectful of me. You're fun to tease and you take it well. Plus, you're cute."

"Is that all?"

"You need more?" She asked. He just smiled his dimpled grin and waited for her to take her next shot. She hit it in the center again and then returned his question. "Why do you like me?"

"I like you because you're funny. I'm happy when I'm around you. I admire your focus and your drive. Plus, you're cute," he smiled and tapped her nose gently.

She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Go."

He took a shot and missed the mark. She missed the bullseye by a hair and turned it back over to him. The next time he made it and asked with a sigh, "What's your greatest regret?"

She leaned on her bow and thought while he watched her face. "Falling in love with someone who could never really be with me."

 _Ouch_. "You're falling in love with me?" He asked, surprised. 

"That’s another question you'd have to shoot for. But that comment wasn't about you."

"Oh," he said, barely audible. He had been surprised twice in a matter of seconds and it gave him whiplash.

She shot her arrow and hit center. "So, what's your biggest regret?"

"That I have to leave you in a few months." He looked down at her sincerely until she looked away.

Wenjun made his next shot and paused to think of a good question, since he wasn't sure how many more he would get. "Why do you want to break up with me? Really?"

Nuwa swallowed and searched Wenjun's eyes. "We would break up anyway, right? Now or when you leave, what's the difference?"

"Is that really all?"

She looked down at the ground. "I'm afraid it will be worse later. I like you. I like you more and more every day, and I don't want to know how much before you leave me." Her voice caught in her throat. 

Wenjun reached his hand out to take hers. "Do we really have to break up? Now or later? I don't think we have to. I want to be with you, and when I can't be with you I still want to talk to you. I know it's not easy, but that's what I want."

"I just don't think you're being realistic. It's not that simple." She shot another straight arrow. "Do you really think it's not going to hurt you when you leave?"

"Of course it's going to hurt. But I don't think ending things now is going to make me hurt less. You tried to break up with me last night, but you still came out with me tonight. Are you sure it's really what you want? You can't even stop yourself from being with me now, can you?"

Nuwa narrowed her eyes and looked down at the bow clutched in his hand. He sighed and did his best, but missed. She missed on purpose and let him have another shot, which he made. 

"Tell me, do you want to spend the next two months avoiding me and trying not to feel anything for me, knowing it’s going to hurt anyway, or do you want to spend that time with me, having fun, and figure out the rest later?"

"So you do want to have fun?" She asked quietly.

"You haven't answered me yet."

"I don't know. Wenjun. I never planned for any of this. I never wanted any of this and I can't figure out how to want it now." She looked at him and waited for something. He looked down at her bow. She rolled her eyes and shot. "How do I know you don’t just want to sleep with me? I don't know what Jingyi has said to you, but-"

"God, Nuwa, if that’s what I wanted don't you think we would have done it last night?" Wenjun stepped closer to her and put his hands gently on her shoulders. "How many times do I have to say that I care about you? I just want you." 

She looked up into his eyes before stepping in and wrapping her arms around his skinny torso. She pressed her cheek against his t-shirt and inhaled deeply. "I want you, too," she admitted to him quietly. “I don’t want to play anymore,” she mumbled into his chest.

"What do you want to do?" he wondered. He had gotten her to admit what he was aiming for, so he was satisfied.

"I want to go back to your place."

"And do what?"

"I don't care. I'm hungry," she complained.

"Okay. Let's get you some food." He smiled before taking her face in his hands and kissing her softly. Then he held her hand as they returned their equipment until they went out onto the street. Nuwa waited for take out while Wenjun went up to his room. He'd been too drunk to care the night before but he needed the time to tidy up. When she came up he opened the door to her with a smile and welcomed her inside.

"Why did you leave this morning?" he asked after they'd settled in.

She looked at him strangely. "I needed to shower and change for work."

"But why didn't you say goodbye?"

"Oh. I don't know. It was early. I didn't want to bother you." She shrugged.

"If you stay over again, wake me up. It's never too early."

"You want me to stay over?"

"I'm just saying if you do, then I want to wake up with you, not alone."

“Can I ask you one last question?” she asked as she picked idly through her food. 

“You can ask me anything you want. I’m an open book. The game was just so I could ask you stuff,” he told her in a teasing tone. 

She narrowed her eyes briefly at it, but then her face regained a thoughtful expression. “What would happen if your company found out about us?”

“I’m not entirely sure. I’ve never seen it happen to anyone. I don’t think there’s any rule in my contract that says I can’t date. The real trouble would only be if the fans found out. And if it came to that the company could drop me, or at least reduce the amount of work I get until it blew over. But I honestly don’t know,” he admitted. 

“And you still think it’s worth the risk?” 

“You mean do I think being with you is worth risking my career over?” he asked. She nodded. 

“I don’t know that either. I want to trust you, and to believe that this could be something real and worth fighting for. But so far I’m struggling to get you to trust me, and for you to just think it’s a good idea. Who can really say?”

Nuwa sighed. “That's...a lot of pressure for me.”

“It doesn’t need to be. I don’t want it to be. But we’ll never know if we don’t give it a chance. So for now, we should just be careful and see where this relationship can go. That’s all I’m asking for.”

“You’re very honest,” she observed. 

He shrugged. “I’ve got no reason to lie to you, Xiao Xiao. I don’t have anything to hide.”

“That kind of honesty is new to me. I haven’t had that with men before,” she admitted. 

He smiled gently at her. “I hope you can be as honest with me. You’re hilarious, and I love it when you joke around, but I worry that you don’t want to tell me the truth. There isn’t anything you need to hide from me. I won’t judge you.”

“Mm,” Nuwa hesitated over what she wanted to say. She was going to demand something of him she wasn’t sure she’d be able to give back, but she seemed to be needing her trust more than he needed hers, so she asked for it anyway. “When I was younger I was involved with someone who lied to me constantly, but I couldn’t tell at the time. I didn’t know until much later that he hid his whole life from me. So, if you want me to trust you, tell me a secret. Something you can’t tell other people.”

Wenjun looked into her large brown eyes as she made her request, and he could see them becoming watery. He held her gaze as he told her. “I don’t know if I want to be in a boyband forever. I like what I’m doing now. I want to dedicate myself to acting. But I don’t want to let my brothers down. We’ve really become like family, and I don’t want to fail them.” He’d never said that to anyone. He’d almost never let himself even think about it. He was fortunate to have what he had and he really loved those guys, but maybe it just wasn’t for him. 

Nuwa nodded. “That must be a lot of pressure. I can’t imagine not being able to make choices for myself.”

He shrugged. “It’s not that bad. It’s fine for now. But in a few years, I don’t know if it’s what I’ll want. Being an idol isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” he admitted. 

“What’s the worst part?” she wondered. 

He looked at her funny, as if it were obvious. “Sometimes you meet a nice girl, and it would be cool if you could just go out like regular people, but you can’t.”

“Oh,” she said bashfully. 

“I should go home,” Nuwa said after they’d cleaned up. 

“You don’t want to spend the night?” Wenjun asked suggestively, although he didn’t mean it. 

“Not tonight. But maybe the next time we don’t have to work at the crack of dawn.”

“Okay,” he smiled and leaned down to kiss her. “You really need to get taller,” he complained. 

She hit him in the stomach. “I am a perfectly normal sized person, unlike you!” She reached up on her toes to kiss him one more time before she left. 

The summer nights were getting short. It was still light out and slightly warm as she walked home. She didn’t need him to accompany her, but she wished she could share it with him. Still, as she walked she felt happy, and tried hard not to let that feeling get muddled with any others. Wenjun was too simple of a person to have anything to hide from her, and was too honest to do it if had, so slowly and with a little effort, she was making the choice to trust him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading. I'm in love with you


	13. Chapter 13

Xiao Nuwa’s icy heart had thawed--almost completely. She had accepted that, for better or for worse, for now her life included Bi Wenjun. She couldn’t help it, even when she wanted to. He had noticed how she couldn’t say no anymore when he asked her to do something with him, and she resented it--for a split second, until she saw his grin and then she couldn’t think of anything at all. It had been months now, and she still hadn’t gotten used to the damn thing. 

She had found the courage to tell him about her past when he had asked her about the man she had loved before. He was kind and understanding, and he held her until the moment she said she should leave. And he asked her to stay. And she did. 

Nuwa woke up to her alarm on her phone. It was later than usual. There was no shooting that day, so she only had to go into the workshop at a reasonable hour, while he had promotional work to do. The sun was already rising, but Wenjun was still trying to pull her back into the darkness of his bed. 

“It’s too early,” he mumbled into her hair. 

“It’s after seven,” she told him. 

“You can’t go.”

“Why not?”

“Because I said so.” He wrapped his arms tight around her and wouldn’t let her go no matter how she struggled. 

“Bi Wenjun, Bi Wenjun. I have to go. I have clothes to make for you today. It takes a long time. Your clothes are very long,” she teased. 

“I think you’re exaggerating about that.”

Nuwa finally broke free. She turned on him and trapped him between her arms. He looked up at her sleepily. “I have work to do, and so do you. So be good. And I’ll see you for dinner.” She leaned down to peck him on the lips, but he held her by the waist for a longer kiss before finally releasing her. 

Nuwa practically skipped through the dawn-kissed streets on the way back to her apartment to change and fix her hair, and she still felt elated as she walked into the workshop. She was told immediately to go to the bosses office. She was too distracted to notice the suspicious way everyone looked at her. 

“Morning boss,” she said cheerfully as she entered his office. 

“Xiao Xiao, come in. You can close the door,” he told her. 

Her eyes crinkled together with involuntary worry, but she closed the door. “Is everything okay?”

“Oh, yeah.” He waved his hand. “I am starting work on a new project, and I want your help. I thought I had more time, but they moved the start of shooting up a few weeks, and I need to get moving. I want you to design more this time. I’m promoting you to assistant designer.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you so much. I’m honored,” she said, shocked. 

“So, I need you to finish the costumes you have left for In A Class of Her Own today, so we can start talking about the next project tomorrow,” he told her. 

“But we have shooting tomorrow,” she reminded him. 

“You’re not on set for this one anymore,” he said bluntly. 

“Oh.”

“Most likely you won’t be on set for most of production now. This is a step up in your career, and it comes with a raise. You’re not going to be a costume fitter anymore,” he explained. 

“Right. Okay,” she said stiltedly. “I’ll go get to work then.” She turned toward the door. 

“You’ve always been a hard worker, Xiao Xiao. That’s why you’ve gotten here.” He gave her a steady look that implied more than his words. “I expect you’ll maintain your professionalism.”

Nuwa blinked, then nodded. She turned again and reached for the door. As she walked back down the hall she felt as though she had been reprimanded instead of promoted, that this was somehow a punishment rather than a reward. This _was_ what she had been working so hard for. This was a good thing, she had to keep reminding herself as she worked all day. She had finally noticed all the people staring at her, so she put on her headphones and blasted Queen while she cut and pinned and sewed. She worked straight through the day and didn’t notice when others had started to go home. She didn’t stop until her music was interrupted by a call. 

“Hello?” she said after clicking the button on her headphones, not looking at the screen to see who it was. 

“Xiao Xiao, what are you doing?” Wenjun asked, looking at the table full of food in his kitchenette. 

“I’m at the workshop.”

“Still?”

“What time is it?” she wondered, looking up from her work for the first time to find she was alone. 

“It’s after seven.”

“Oh. I didn’t realize. Sorry. I can’t do dinner tonight.” 

Wenjun could tell she was distracted. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s fine. I’m just working on this last garment. I have to finish it tonight.”

“Have you eaten?” he asked, knowing she hadn’t. She never ate when she was in work mode. 

“Not yet,” she said absently as she continued her work. 

“Come over when you’re finished. I’ll have food for you.”

“It will be another two, maybe two and a half hours.”

“That’s okay. Just come over,” he insisted. 

“You have work early tomorrow,” she reminded him. 

He noticed that she said ‘you’ and not ‘we’. “I don’t care.”

She sighed. “Okay. I’ll see you when I’m done.”

Wenjun opened the door quickly after she knocked. He smiled sweetly and pulled her inside and into his arms.

“What are you so excited about?” she wondered as she put her bag down. 

“I’m just happy you’re here. Come and eat something,” he said, leading her to the table. 

She smiled at the feast he had ordered and began eating without any further encouragement. 

“You didn’t eat all day, did you?” he wondered. She shook her head. “You have to take care of yourself. What were you working so hard on?” Wenjun rubbed her shoulders. 

“I had to finish all my costumes that I had left.” She moaned a little as he rubbed just the right spot and let her eyes close. 

“What’s the rush?”

“Mmm,” she hesitated. She grabbed his wrist gently and pulled him away to the chair beside her. “I won’t be working on this project anymore,” she confessed. 

Wenjun’s eyes widened. “Did you get fired?”

Nuwa took his hand, but didn’t look at him. “No. I got promoted. Mr. Xu wants me to start working on a new project with him as his assistant designer.”

“That’s great news!” he cheered. “Why don’t you seem happy?”

“I am. It’s good. I just can’t help the feeling that I’m being taken off this project on purpose. I feel like I’m being punished for…”

“For your relationship with me?”

She nodded, still not meeting his eyes. “Everyone knows about us. And no one’s saying anything. They’re just staring at me. It’s just...he said that I should maintain my professionalism…”

Wenjun put his hand under her chin and lifted her face up to look at him. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t discrete. I pursued you. You didn’t want this, and you tried to be professional. It’s my fault. I understand if you’re mad at me.”

She shook her head and huffed a laugh. “I’m not mad at you, Xiao Bi. I’m...sad.”

“Why?” he asked with a confused look. 

“Because I won’t get to work with you anymore. With any of you. I actually like being on set and interacting with everyone.”

Wenjun laughed and brushed her chin gently. “Silly girl. You got a promotion. You should be thrilled. I thought your career was the most important thing to you. Now you’re complaining. You better eat before it gets cold again,” he ordered. 

Nuwa smiled sheepishly and picked up her chopsticks again. “Okay.”

“You have to eat with me every night now,” he told her as he put food in her bowl. 

“Why?”

“Because I know you. You’ll be working too hard to take care of yourself properly. So, you’d better come here at night and let me take care of you.”

“Pfft. I can take care of myself,” she pouted. 

“Eat.”

“Okay,” she smiled at her bowl and did as she was told.


	14. Chapter 14

The morning darkness was broken by Wenjun’s wake up call. He reached out a long arm to pick up the receiver and place it back down again. Nuwa groaned and squeezed her eyes tightly. It was _his_ wakeup call. Not hers anymore. She didn’t have to get up for work before the sun. They had drifted apart in the night, but now his arms were sneaking around her, pulling her in tight. 

“Time for work,” he mumbled, eyes still closed. 

“Not for me,” she grinned, but only because she enjoyed teasing him and not because she was happy about it. 

“Oh, yeah. I forgot.” He was suddenly waking up. “You can go back to sleep while I get ready.” But he didn’t move. 

As much as he would have liked to continue sleeping, that was off for Nuwa now. Her brain was running and circling, thinking about work. “Weren’t you going to get ready?” she asked after a minute had passed, and she realized he had no intention of moving. He moaned and still didn’t move. Her eyes were adjusting to the darkness and she could see his features dimly, his soft button nose, his pink bowed lips. She ran her fingers through his messy hair and the corners of his lips curled up. She kissed the corner of his mouth softly, then another kiss over at the dimple that appeared when he smiled more widely, then one more up on his cheek bone, and another on the birthmark next to his right eye. 

“Xiao Bi,” she cooed right next to his ear. 

“Is this supposed to be encouraging me to get out of bed?” he laughed. “Because it’s doing the opposite.” He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her on top of him. “I really like waking up with you here.” 

“I think what you mean is that you like having me in your bed, because you have not woken up yet.”

“How am I supposed to get out of bed with you on top of me?” he asked. 

“You-!” She started to tickle his sides. 

He had regrets. Well, one regret. He laughed uncontrollably until he was able to push her off of him. At least it had really woken him up. Nuwa laid in bed while he showered, and buried herself under the covers when he came out in a towel, because despite spending a handful of nights together, she still hadn’t seen that much of him. He couldn’t help but laugh as she ducked beneath the sheets. 

“You can come out now,” he said when he was dressed. She peaked out to see him dressed in basketball shorts and a t-shirt. Casual, since he was only going to change into one of her costumes anyway. He sat on the bed next to her. “Xiao Xiao, are you afraid of seeing me naked?”

She looked away. “I’m not afraid.”

“I-” he started, but his phone rang. “Time to go,” he sighed. 

Nuwa changed her clothes quickly. She had worn Wenjun’s too long sweat pants and a t-shirt to sleep. She folded them carefully and left them on top of the dresser. They headed out of the hotel room toward the elevator, where they ran into Jingyi, who wiggled her eyebrows and smiled at the pair of them. Wenjun bent down to kiss Nuwa’s forehead before the elevator reached the lobby, not afraid of what Jingyi did or didn’t know. 

“See you later,” he said quietly before they parted ways when the ding announced their arrival. 

“Bye,” she said, just as quietly, and waited for the two of them to go ahead. 

Set was noticeably less fun for both Wenjun and Jingyi without Nuwa around. Wenjun had to be the one to explain to the main cast about her promotion, since she hadn’t told anyone else but him. 

It was Jingyi who noticed Nuwa’s figure under an umbrella walking away from them through the dim rain when they arrived back at their hotel. Nuwa had gotten out of work earlier than them, and she’d been walking up and down this street, trying to be inconspicuous for almost half an hour. Her shoes were soaked, but she didn’t really care. She missed her friends. Jingyi whistled loudly in her direction, and Nuwa turned instinctively. She walked at a reasonable pace, holding herself back from running through to rain, to where the actors were standing under the covered entrance of the hotel. 

“Hey, guys,” she greeted happily, looking at the faces of the foursome. 

“Hey, Xiao Xiao. Congratulations on your promotion,” Weilong smiled. 

“Thanks.” She smiled down at her wet shoes. 

“Hey, since you got promoted, you should take us all out to dinner to celebrate,” Jingyi suggested with a grin. 

Nuwa looked back up with an even bigger grin. “Sure!” she agreed. 

“Let’s go!” Jingyi put her arm in Nuwa’s, not giving her any room to change her mind. 

“I’ll meet you there in a minute,” Wenjun said, before turning toward the hotel entrance. 

“You guys go on. Congratulations, Nuwa,” Ruichang said in a subdued tone before he too turned toward the entrance. 

“Chang-gege…” Nuwa started, but he was already walking away. Wenjun looked back to look at her. He was just insecure enough to be jealous of the sad look on her face as her old friend walked away from her. 

“C’mon,” Jingyi encouraged, and pulled Nuwa away toward the hotpot restaurant next door. They went to a booth in the corner and Jingyi pulled her in beside her. “Now that you guys are officially dating, you should be more careful,” she said quietly. 

“I don’t know how official it is,” Nuwa huffed dismissively. “What about you guys?” she asked, nodding toward Weilong. 

“I do not know to what you are referring,” Jingyi said carefully, folding her hands on the table. 

A minute later Wenjun slid into the booth next to Weilong, and Nuwa was almost able to imagine that they were two regular couples having dinner together. 

The four of them walked back to the hotel, but Nuwa lingered outside the entrance. Wenjun gave her a strange look. The others had already made it to the elevators. 

“I can’t stay the night,” she said quietly, almost inaudibly. She told herself it’s because they’re still on the street, but really she was just unsure. 

Wenjun looked around. There wasn’t really anyone near, but that could change. “Just come up for a minute,” he insisted. She hesitated for a moment, but then followed him inside. They caught up to the elevator just as the other couple was getting on, and they all rode up together in an almost awkward silence. 

“What’s up?” Wenjun asked once they were inside his room. 

“Nothing,” she said stupidly. 

“Why don’t you want to stay the night?” He crossed his arms. “And don’t say it’s because either of us has to work early.” She didn’t say anything for a moment. “I’m not trying to force you to stay. I just want an honest answer from you,” he said and waited again. 

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea for me to stay over every night,” she said softly, not looking at him. 

“Fine. But why not?” He was getting frustrated with her polite obfuscations. She fidgeted nervously with the hem of her shirt. “Is it because of the comment I made this morning? I didn’t mean anything by it. I don’t expect anything.” That wasn’t entirely true. He had meant something by it. He wanted her to want to see him naked. He wanted her to want to take their relationship further, just like he did. But he was cautious, and he was doing his best to respect her boundaries. 

“It isn’t that I don’t want to...I just...I told you, I don’t want to miss you. When you’re gone, I already know that I’ll miss you and I don’t want to add sleeping beside you every night, and...other things...to the list of things I don’t have anymore when you leave. Okay?” She sounded tired and already sad. 

Wenjun stared at her for what felt like an eternity, but she still refused to meet his eyes. Finally, he sighed. “You know, you’re a much more interesting person than you give yourself credit for, and I don’t know how when you’re so damn terrified of living your life.”

“I am not terrified of living my life!” Her voice rose defensively. 

“You’re so worried about a future you can’t possibly predict or control that you won’t experience the present. But it doesn’t matter because even if you get everything you want, by the time you have it you’ll be thinking about the next thing. You’re never going to be happy that way.”

“You wouldn’t understand. It’s not the same for you. You have so little control over your life that there are no consequences for you. You don’t need to plan because someone else will do it for you. It doesn’t matter if I hurt when you leave, because you’ll just float on to the next thing they’re telling you to do, meet some other girl, live your carefree ‘present’ and move on with your life. I’m sorry I’m not like that.” Tears of anger and hurt were rimming her eyes, but she wouldn’t let them fall. 

“Xiao Xiao,” Wenjun said quietly, reaching out for her hand. “It matters a lot to me if I hurt you. That’s the last thing I want. And I’m sorry, because I know it will hurt. It will hurt me, too. I don’t want to move on from you.” Looking up at him, his soft features and soft voice allowed her tears to recede. “I don’t have much control over my future, but I want as many memories of you to take with me as I can. I don’t think this is just a moment that I’m going to float away from, but if it is, I want to have every bit of it I can. So, I want you to stay.”

Nuwa lowered her head and stepped closer to him so her forehead could rest against his chest. He smiled a little as he lifted his arms to hug her shoulders and her arms snaked around his skinny middle. “I’ll stay,” she said quietly.

He smiled wider. “Good. Oh, I almost forgot.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a plastic keycard. “So next time you don’t have to wait in the rain. You can just come up anytime.”

“You don’t mind me coming into your space?” she asked, surprised. 

He shrugged. “It’s not like this is really my home or anything. I don’t have anything secret hidden here for you to find,” he chuckled. “The worst thing you’d probably do is clean. And, well, that wouldn’t really bother me.”

She took the card and slipped it in her bag. “I’m going to go change,” she told him. Her socks were still wet in her shoes. Wenjun nodded, and she took her bag with her into the bathroom. She’d brought her own pajamas with her, and even an extra change of clothes, and a new toothbrush. So maybe she’d always known she would stay, even if she wasn’t sure that it was a good idea. She’d brought her cute pajamas, pink and white striped cotton shorts and a white t-shirt, but she thought maybe she’d rather wear his clothes again. She packed her things away and went back out to the main room. 

Wenjun was looking for something to watch, and a moment passed before he turned to look at her. “Those are not my clothes,” he commented, taken by surprise when he saw her. 

“Mm, no,” she admitted, as if that were necessary. 

“You little minx. You always planned to stay,” he smiled. 

“No...you’re just very convincing. So, I came prepared.” She sat down at the opposite end of the couch from him. 

“You like sleeping with me, admit it.” His grin was growing wider and he was enjoying the flush in her cheeks very much. 

“I do not. You take up so much space. You’re just arms and legs everywhere. And you snore.” She was lying, but she wasn’t going to admit it. 

“I do not.”

“Do, too.” She crossed her arms and looked away from him, at the TV.

“That’s okay. You don’t have to admit how much you love being in my bed,” he told her. He stretched out so his head was in her lap and his feet were sticking off the other end. “You have really soft legs,” he commented, rubbing just below her knee. 

“Gimme that,” she said, taking the remote control from his other hand and found something to watch while he continued to touch her contentedly. 

“I like these little birthmarks on your cheek,” Wenjun commented after he’d been staring at her instead of the screen for a few minutes. 

“What?” she asked, pulling her attention away. 

“They make a little diamond,” he said, connecting the dots with his forefinger. “Boop. Boop. Boop. Boop,” he said as he pressed gently on each one.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“Because you’re pretty.”

“Are you drunk?”

“No,” he laughed. She shook her head and looked away. He sighed before he asked, “What does it feel like to fall in love?”

She looked back at him and wrinkled her forehead. “Why do you ask?”

“Because you said you’ve fallen in love before, and other than my parents, I’m not sure I know anyone else who has.”

“Oh.” She had said that. She had said it was her greatest regret, but she had in fact fallen in love once before.”Well, I guess, there’s a reason they call it falling. That’s pretty much exactly what it feels like. It’s something you have no control over, no way to slow it down or make it stop, no idea when you’re going to hit the bottom. It’s terrifying, but also makes you feel alive. If that makes sense.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Wenjun said slowly as he looked down into her eyes. 

“What do you mean?” she asked, looking back at him. Her heart was beating loud and fast and she could hear it in her ears over her own voice.

“Nuwa, I think-”

She stopped his mouth with her own. She wasn’t ready to hear it. She didn’t want to hear it. Not from him. Not when he was leaving in a few weeks. _He just wants to make things worse and worse_ , she thought. _Maybe he wasn’t going to say it_ , she told herself, but it was better safe than sorry. _Doesn’t he know how unfair it is?_

He got the message anyway. He could understand that she wasn’t ready to hear it, so he was happy just to pull her tight against him and kiss her.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter of Nuwa and Wenjun's story. I'm sorry if it's rushed or if there feels like there's something missing. I'm terrible at endings. I can't remember ever actually writing one.

A week before filming would end for good on In a Class of Her Own, Wenjun had left to do a promotional event with NEXT. He’d already been gone one night when Nuwa stood outside the actor’s dressing rooms, standing against the van and playing with one of Wenjun’s yoyos while she waited for Jingyi. 

“Xiao Xiao, what’s up?” Jingyi asked, seeing her long face and surprised to be seeing her at all. 

Nuwa pulled up the yoyo effortlessly into her hand. Wenjun had taught her some tricks and she had been practicing. “Are you free tonight?” she asked in a sad voice. 

Jingyi looked up at Weilong and then back at her friend. “Sure.” She touched Nuwa’s shoulder to comfort her and they got in the van to go back to the hotel. 

“Wenjun will be back tomorrow,” Jingyi told her as Nuwa sat with her knees pulled up to her chest, resting her head sadly on top. 

“I know. But then he’ll be gone a week later.”

“What’s the use in being sad now?” Jingyi wondered. 

“You’ll be gone in a week, too and we won’t get to do this girl friend post-breakup thing!” Nuwa started to cry. 

Jingyi couldn’t control herself and laughed loudly. Nuwa looked up at her angrily, but it just read pitiful. 

“I’m sorry. You’re right.” She scooted closer to the poor girl and tried to comfort her. “What are you going to do?”

“What do you mean?” Nuwa sniffed. 

“Are you going to try to make it work with him?” 

“How could it possibly work?”

“I don’t know. I just don’t think that Wenjun is the kind of guy who’s going to let you go. I know he doesn’t have much--or any--experience with women, but he seems like the type to get stuck on a girl. I think he’s probably actually in love with you.”

“He tried to say it,” Nuwa admitted and wiped her eyes. 

“What? When? What did you do?” 

“Maybe a week ago. I stopped him.”

“How?” 

“I kissed him.”

“Have you guys had sex?”

“No! Not yet,” Nuwa mumbled. 

“Not yet? So you want to?”

“I don’t know!” Nuwa groaned. “I mean, physically yes. I want to. But emotionally, I just am not ready for all this. He doesn’t understand how much it all means.”

“That doesn't seem fair. I’m sure it means a lot to him. I’m serious when I say he loves you. You don’t see the way he looks at you, or the way he misses you when you’re not around. I’m sure he doesn’t like this any more than you do. He may not know how much it means to you, but have you talked to him about it?”

Nuwa hid her face. “No.”

“You can deal with it however you want. If you don’t want to see him again after he leaves, you don’t want any chance for whatever is between you two, then you can break up with him. But I think you should be honest with him about your feelings. You should be honest with yourself, too. But that’s just my opinion.” 

Nuwa groaned loudly. “I’m not good at that.”

“I know.” Jingyi smiled. “But don’t you think you both deserve it?” Nuwa sighed. “I’ll help you figure it out.” Jingyi tapped her chin, trying to think of a way to make Nuwa realize she loved him without asking her directly. “What do you miss about him?” she asked.

“I miss his stupid smile, and his lame jokes, and his weird gangly body,” she said, making Jingyi giggle uncontrollably. 

“Can you say something nice about him without insulting him?” she begged. 

Nuwa sighed. “I miss the way he smells when I wake up beside him in the morning. I miss eating dinner with him because he knows that I work too much. I miss seeing him in clothes that I made.”

Jingyi frowned. “Do those things feel important to you?”

Nuwa shrugged. “I think the way he respects me is important.”

“Can he respect you when he’s not around?” Jingyi asked. Nuwa nodded. “Is it going to hurt when he’s not around?” Again, she nodded. “Is it going to hurt less if you’ve broken up or if you’re waiting to see him again?”

“I don’t know,” Nuwa admitted. “I just think if we do long distance, then I’ll be the one waiting around for the chance to see him, but if we break up I can be sad and then eventually move on with my life.”

“So you can date other guys?”

“No, so I can’t just not be sad. So I don’t have to be in love with him anymore.”

Jingyi smiled. “So you are in love with him?”

Nuwa’s eyes widened when she realized she’d trapped herself. “I-did I…?” 

Filming had ended. The wrap party was over. Ju Jingyi and Song Weilong had invited Wenjun and Nuwa out for dinner, but Wenjun wanted to have one last evening alone with her. They ordered dinner in and watched a movie, but Nuwa was distant, sitting quietly at the opposite end of the couch from him. She had actually wanted to go out with the others in hopes of avoiding this situation, but here they were. Wenjun tried to close the distance between them by reaching out his hand and placing it on her knee. She glanced at his hand, up to him and back at the screen. He had no choice but to pause the movie so she would look back at him. She didn’t move though, except to turn her head in his direction. She just remained still, her arms and legs crossed. If she wouldn’t move to him then he would go to her. He scooted the few feet across the couch and sat facing her, rubbing her thigh. 

“I don’t want this to be our last night,” he said softly. 

She raised her eyebrows at him. “Do you mean you don’t want our last night to be like this, or you don’t want tonight to be the last night of us?”

“Both,” he sighed. “I don’t want to leave. You know that.”

She didn’t have anything to say. Regardless of what either of them wanted, even if they loved each other and either of them said it, he was going to leave, and she had known that from the very beginning. She didn’t want this to be their last night either, and if she had a time machine she probably would have gone back and stopped the first night from happening. So, she didn’t have anything to say. 

“Nuwa, please, don’t be mad at me,” he pleaded. 

She sighed. “I’m not mad at you.” She didn’t sound mad. He waited for something more. She finally looked away from him. “I’m mad at myself,” she said coldly. “I always knew it would end like this. I tried to have fun. Everyone told me to have fun. And it was fun.” She looked back at his eyes, wide and brown and expecting something from her. “But it’s not fun anymore. I didn’t want to have real feelings for you, but you got to me, and now it’s ending exactly like I knew it would.”

“Nuwa, I have real feelings for you, too. This wasn’t just fun for me. I don’t want this to end. We don’t have to break up,” he implored her. 

She scoffed. “What? Do long distance?”

“Sure. Why not?” he sounded hopeful. 

“When would we ever get to see each other again? You’ll just hope you get another job that brings you here?” 

He didn’t have an answer for her. He knew he was not the master of his own fate. 

She swallowed hard. “I never wanted a relationship to begin with. Not with anyone. Not even a good, steady, normal one. I don’t want something complicated. So, I think we do have to break up.” A sudden, unexpected tear fell down her cheek. 

“Look, Nuwa, I don’t know what the right thing to do here is. I only know how I feel.” He sighed. “I want to ask you to do something that I know is going to be scary for you.”

She wiped the tear from her cheek and stared at him, wide-eyed. 

“I know you need definitions and labels and rules and a plan, but maybe we just go without them for a while. Breaking up...it sounds like we won’t talk anymore. That’s it? Just nothing between us? When I know that’s not real? I can’t stand the thought of it, Xiao Xiao. I don’t care where I am, I’m still going to want to talk to you, to know how you’re doing, to see your face. I’m still going to love you. I can’t stand you cutting me out of your life. Can you?”

Tears started falling again, and now she was really crying. “Damn it, Wenjun!” she sobbed. “Why do you have to be so devastatingly sweet all the time when I’m so awful.”

He smiled and pulled her toward him so he could wrap his arms around her. She cried into his shoulder. “You’re not awful,” he told her softly. “You’re just scared of your own heart. If you keep going this way you’ll end up dying alone, and that’s too sad a thought for me to bear.” He held her tight and stroked her long hair down her back. “I know that it’s unfair of me not to offer you more, but it would be a lie, a promise I would know I was breaking when I made it. But I’m trying to be completely honest with you. If we keep talking and we both get busy with work and eventually we drift apart, then so be it. That's just how it's meant to be. If we keep talking forever and someday we are in a position to really be together, then that would be amazing. I just don’t want things to come to an arbitrary end because I have to go away. It’s too unfair.”

Nuwa sat back on her heels and wiped her tears away. “Well, I guess that’s something like a plan,” she sniffed. 

He couldn’t help but laugh. “If that makes you feel better about it, then sure.”

She took a deep breath. “You said you love me.”

“I meant it,” he replied simply. 

“I love you, too. So I guess I have no choice but to let you break my heart.” She said it calmly, not as sarcastically as she might have wanted to.

“I won’t let it break. I can’t promise it won’t ache a little, but I won’t break it.” He pulled her close again and held her tightly in his lap. “You got into me, and you’re mine now. I don’t let people go very easily.” 

Nuwa kissed him and tried desperately not to think of all the disastrous endings that she was able to imagine. Instead she clung to him and tried to let his hope become her own. If he could be as persistent in keeping her as he had been in getting her, they might stand a chance. She wouldn’t let the fear of never seeing again make it into reality. She wouldn’t let the pain of loving him overpower the pleasure of it. She would just take it for what it was and let his vision guide their future. And if one day there wasn’t any more future for them, she’d just have to take it as it came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this work and who liked Nuwa and Wenjun. Kudos and comments are appreciated. 
> 
> If you liked this work I have other NEXT related content (Pick Me https://archiveofourown.org/works/26259769) and if you like the actor Luo Yunxi (Ashes of Love, The Winner is Love) I have a Yunxi fic called I Still Want you (https://archiveofourown.org/works/25915102) that will go on probably indefinitely because I love those characters and they have no plot (but lots of smut lol)
> 
> Anyway, I hope you have a wonderful New Year and all your fictional and nonfictional dreams come true!
> 
> <3


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